The Arizona Coyotes were playing with heavy hearts on Saturday night.
Prior to the game against the St. Louis Blues, Leighton Accardo, a nine-year-old who died in November after a long battle with cancer, was inducted into the Coyotes' ring of honor.
The honor has been exclusively reserved for former players, coaches, general managers, or broadcasters across the NHL. But Accardo will join the likes of Wayne Gretzky, Keith Tkachuk, Jeremy Roenick, Teppo Numminen, Dale Hawerchuk, Thomas Steen, and Bobby Hull inside Gila River Arena.
Accardo left a lasting impact on the entire Coyotes organization.
A beautiful life packed into 9 years.
— Arizona Coyotes (@ArizonaCoyotes) April 17, 2021
A beautiful legacy just getting started.
Today, Accardo 49 joins our Ring of Honor forever. 💜 pic.twitter.com/7UkXSnj8qz
The Coyotes trailed the Blues 2-0 after 20 minutes, but captain Oliver Ekman-Larsson guaranteed the team would complete a comeback victory in honor of Accardo.
Down by two goals after the first on a night honoring Leighton Accardo, Oliver Ekman-Larsson (@OEL23) guaranteed an @ArizonaCoyotes win... and it came to be.
— NHL (@NHL) April 18, 2021
All for Leighton. 💜 pic.twitter.com/kDnKSxTL99
The Coyotes ended up scoring three unanswered goals to take the game 3-2. Ekman-Larsson picked up an assist while logging 19:24 of ice time in the contest.
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