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Welcome to the daily fantasy hockey picks article for DraftKings, FanDuel, for Saturday, December 26th, 2015. I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas with their families. After a three day break from hockey all healthy players should be rested up and ready to go Saturday night. There is a nice mix of top end goalies and value plays leaving you the option to go many directions. Lets take a look at some core plays for tonight.
Braden Holtby - Washington Capitals vs. MON *Probable*
DraftKings - $8,200 FanDuel - $10,500
If you are paying up for a goaltender tonight, Holtby is the top choice on DraftKings where he will cost 16% of salary cap vs. 19% on FanDuel. He went in to the break winning five of his last six games and sits with a 21-4-1 record and .931 save % for the season. He beat the Habs on the road earlier in December which pushed his career record to 7-0 with a .949 save % vs. Montreal.
Louis Dominique - Arizona Coyotes vs. LA *Probable*
DraftKings - $6,100 FanDuel - $6,500
He makes a terrific GPP play as a low salary option in a tough matchup. After taking over for Lindback in a loss to the Blue Jackets, he got back to back starts and went 2-0 with a shutout. Tough matchup at home vs. the Kings which should push his ownership level down presenting a ton of value.
Also Consider - Ben Bishop - Tampa Bay Lightning vs. CBJ
Patrice Bergeron - Boston Bruins vs. BUF
DraftKings - $7,100 FanDuel - $7,500
He had a seven game point streak snapped before the break with back to back scoreless games. Look for another streak to begin tonight as he has been one of the most consistent fantasy players on the planet. He takes a ton of shots giving him a nice floor and gets over 3:00 on the leagues #1 PP unit giving him a tremendous ceiling as well for tournaments.
Stack with - Brad Marchand, Loui Eriksson, Torey Krug, David Krejci
Nicklas Backstrom - Washignton Capitals vs. MON
DraftKings - $6,200 FanDuel - $6,100
When you combine the play making ability of Backstrom with the scoring ability of Alex Ovechkin the sky is the limit for fantasy. His salary is affordable on both sites in the mid range and he has been very consistent lately with 11 points in his last 10 games. Tonight's matchup contains two teams trending in opposite directions. The Caps have won 6 straight while the Habs have lost 5 straight going in to the break. I favor the home team in this situation.
Stack with - Alex Ovechkin, TJ Oshie, John Carlson
Also Consider - Pavel Datsyuk - Detroit Red Wings @ NSH
Zach Parise - Minnesota Wild vs. PIT
DraftKings - $7,700 FanDuel(LW) - $9,100
His price has only climbed up $100 on DraftKings since the start of the month even though he has recorded 10 points in his last 10 games with an amazing 42 shots on goal. He makes a great play in any format on DraftKings while only a GPP on FanDuel with a price over $9K. The Wild come out of the break with a home matchup vs. the struggling Penguins starting a rookie goaltender.
Stack with - Mikael Granlund, Jason Pominville, Ryan Suter
Radim Vrbata - Vancouver Canucks vs. EDM
DraftKings - $5,200 FanDuel(RW) - $6,500
The scoring for Vrbata has been inconsistent but the shots have been there all season. He is ranked 3rd averaging 22.1 iCorsi/60 in all situations which has produced 123 shots on goal this season. He is now up to 18 points on the year and gets a juicy matchup vs. the Oilers who have struggled on the road in the first half of the season.
Stack with - Daniel Sedin, Henrik Sedin
Jonathan Marchessault - Tampa Bay Lightning vs. CBJ
DraftKings(C) - $2,800 FanDuel(LW) - $3,000
He makes a terrific punt option on both sites tonight at min salary. He is riding a five game point streak and has been getting over 3:00 on the #1 PP unit with Steven Stamkos. In 18 games this season he has averaged 17.1 iCorsi/60 which has produced 38 shots on goal. He has a nice floor for the price and provides a ton of cap relief to allow room for some high end, elite players.
Stack with - Steven Stamkos, Nikia Kucherov, Vladislav Namestnikov
Also Consider - Mike Cammalleri - New Jersey Devils @ CAR
Roman Josi - Nashville Predators vs. DET
DraftKings - $7,000 FanDuel - $6,700
The price has reached the $7K mark on DraftKings but still makes a great tournament option. He has been terrific lately with 11 points in his last 10 games with 23 and 22 blocks. He faced the Red Wings earlier in the year and picked up 2 assists in a Nashville win.
Alexander Edler - Vancouver Canucks vs. EDM
DraftKings - $5,100 FanDuel - $5,300
He makes more of a DraftKings play as he gets bonus points for blocks. He has picked up an amazing 18 blocks in his previous four games and has added 15 shots as well. For the price, the floor is fairly safe and any offense he adds just adds extra value. Use him comfortably on DK for cash games and reserve to GPP punt only on FanDuel.
Also Consider - Ryan Suter - Minnesota Wild vs. PIT
***All advanced stats in this article are sourced from www. puckalytics.com***
***All goaltender and team line combination information is provided by www.leftwinglock.com***
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