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PHT Morning Skate: Martin St. Louis gets his jersey retired tonight

Tampa Bay Lightning v New Jersey Devils

NEWARK, NJ - DECEMBER 14: Martin St. Louis #26 of the Tampa Bay Lightning skates during an NHL hockey game against the New Jersey Devils at Prudential Center on December 14, 2013 in Newark, New Jersey. (Photo by Paul Bereswill/Getty Images)

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-- It will be a big night in Tampa Bay when Martin St. Louis, the Lightning’s all-time leading scorer and one of the best players in franchise history, will officially have his number 26 retired before the start of their game against the Columbus Blue Jackets. St. Louis was already in town on Thursday and, along with his two sons, dropped the ceremonial puck before the current Lightning’s 4-2 win over the Buffalo Sabres. He spent more than 13 seasons with the Lightning, recording 953 points (365 goals, 588 assists) in 972 games with the team while also winning two scoring titles, an MVP award, and a Stanley Cup. He also played for the Calgary Flames and New York Rangers in his career. [NHL]

-- Also on Friday night the New York Rangers will honor an NYPD hero, Steven McDonald, who passed away earlier this week. McDonald and the Rangers had a connection over the years as the team’s extra effort award has been named after McDonald since the 1987-88 season. Every year he would personally present a Rangers player with the award as well as a $25,000 check made out in the player’s name to the charity of their choice. [New York Post]

-- San Diego lost its professional football team on Thursday when the Chargers left for Los Angeles, but the AHL’s San Diego Gulls remain a pro sports option in the city. [Los Angeles Times]

-- In the latest edition of Insider Trading Darren Dreger and Bob McKenzie report on whether or not the cap-strapped Philadelphia Flyers will have to make a deal with Mark Streit’s return to the lineup, whether or not the Avalanche are really ready to start dealing core players, and if the Minnesota Wild will bring Joel Eriksson over from Sweden this season. [TSN]

-- Detroit Red Wings forward Riley Sheahan was a healthy scratch in their 5-2 loss to the Dallas Stars on Thursday night. It has been a rough season for the team’s first-round draft pick from 2010 as he had played in every game this season before Thursday and had managed just six points -- all assists. He is one of only six players in the league this season that has played in at least 40 games this season and not scored a single goal. The other five are all defensemen. [Detroit Free Press]

-- A look at the history of NHL players recording hat tricks in their NHL debut, from Real Cloutier in 1979, to Fabian Brunnstrom, to Derek Stepan, to Auston Matthews. [Vice Sports]

-- Carey Price has been going through an extended slump for the Montreal Canadiens and it continued on Thursday night when he gave up seven goals in a 7-1 loss to the Minnesota Wild in what was a matchup of two of the Vezina Trophy front-runners so far this season. Check out all of the highlights here.