Beauty Plays of the Week : December 2025
Photo Credit : Brianna Nevins/Milwaukee Admirals
Every Wednesday during the season, “Graced By Rain” awards a “Beauty Play of the Week” from the past week of Grand Rapids Griffins games. Some are goals, some are saves, and some are hits. While each are different, they all provided an extra element of beauty to an already beautiful sport.
Below are the plays from December 2025.
Carter Gylander’s Stickless Save During the Teddy Bear Toss Game
Awarded: December 3, 2025
This is where tracking the puck with his body came in handy for Carter Gylander. It allowed for quick glides and smooth jumps across the crease. What’s also impressive is how locked in and mentally present Gylander was after playing multiple games that week.
At this point in the game, the Iowa Wild were starting to gain momentum and continued to build upon it during their power play. Preventing both of these goals from coming to fruition seemed to power the Griffins to end the game strong. They looked incredibly relaxed knowing their man between the pipes was physically and mentally prepared for any challenge coming his way.
Antti Tuomisto’s Goal on December 3rd
Awarded: December 10, 2025
From the faceoff win to the board work to the passing, the entire play was an absolutely beautiful one to watch take shape.
Let’s start with the faceoff and work our way out to the goal.
As always, forward Austin Watson used his muscles to push Cleveland’s Hunter McKown off the puck in the circle. Quick reaction times from Michael Brandsegg-Nygard and Tyler Angle gave the Griffins a tally in the faceoff win column.
Next, you see Angle move the play away from the Monsters and along the boards, where he eventually gets trapped in the corner. Which is ok! Moving the puck away was, in my opinion, the correct route. Why? It was more likely he would have been stripped of the puck close to the neutral zone had he taken any other way.
This section of the play also highlights another positive aspect of Brandsegg-Nygard’s game - his board battles. He has this uncanny ability of being able to dig pucks out of a pile of skates and continue to move it along, or close to, the boards.
After Watson’s shot attempt, another battle near the boards commences, and this is where you see the magic happen. With a flick of the stick, Brandsegg-Nygard is able to strip Stanislav Svozil of the puck and push it towards Angle to move behind the net and pass it to Tuomisto, who was waiting patiently at the top of the faceoff circle.
What you can’t really see from this clip is the fact that Tuomisto spent the bulk of this play in various spots below the blue line preparing to employ a one-timer. So, when the puck came, Tuomisto was ready with the one-time slapper.
Nolan Moyle’s 1st Career AHL Goal
Awarded: December 17, 2025
Nolan Moyle scored his first career AHL goal against the Milwaukee Admirals on December 10, 2025.
This play highlighted Moyle’s smooth grit. He went toe-to-toe with Milwaukee defender Tanner Molendyk, yanked the puck off his stick, and casually launched it into the net. It happened fast and was truly a thing of beauty.
To add a cherry on top: Up until this point in the game, the Admirals and Griffins were able to match each other at every turn. Moyle’s goal took the wind out of Milwaukee’s sail and allowed Grand Rapids to come out on top 6-4.
Dominik Shine’s 14th Goal of the 2025-26 Season
Awarded: December 24, 2025
First, I would like to point out that it is rare that Dominik Shine, Eduards Tralmaks, and Chad Hillebrand are on the ice at the same time. But, due to Sheldon Dries leaving the game early, the lines were shaken up like dice, and what came out was a “Yahtzee”.
I love how they created a small “v” shape once they exited the neutral zone, which allowed for beautiful, smooth passing as they glided towards the net.
Erik Gustafsson’s Power Play Goal on December 27, 2025
Awarded: December 31, 2025
This is another case of an evenly matched game between the Griffins and Admirals where a goal completely changed the trajectory of the game.
Thirty-four seconds later, Grand Rapids scored a second power play goal, which Erik Gustafsson and Brandsegg-Nygard were also a huge part of making happen. From there, the Griffins were able to keep the Admirals at bay for the rest of the game, winning 3-0.
