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SATURDAY NIGHT CHALLENGE

Hey guys, its CrossCzech here with your daily dose of fantasy hockey on a 7 game Saturday night slate on Draftkings. Draftkings is running qualifiers and satellites for for tickets to get into the Fantasy Hockey World Championship in Miami, Florida in March, so get your teams in! If thats not your thing, then there are plenty of cash games and double-ups available for everyone. If you are playing only a few bucks and want to take out the mass-entry/bankroll factor, look to the 3-entry max games that Draftkings offers, that way every player has the same amount of entries and it doesn’t matter if you have $100 or $10,000 as your bankroll, you get 3-entries regardless. Single-entry games are also another way to go if you are looking to avoid mass-entry players and like to play a single lineup or are a cash game player. Head-to head games are terrific as well but don’t be afraid to block certain players who a sharks in the shallows. Know your opponent, is Sun Tzu’s first rule of war in his book. Look over who wins every night and look over their rosters to see what they did that you maybe didn’t do or look to see how they constructed their roster. If you are not spending time reverse-engineering the best players then you might as well open your window and throw out your money. I don’t mean that in a negative connotation, but I am trying to instill the fact that learning on a daily basis is a huge part of DFS and finding the people who are successful and figuring out why they did what they did, makes you a better player. If you are doing this to have fun or win money is the ultimate question, and one that it is the basis for everything you do in DFS. A word to the wise, play it safe and close to your chest on these 3-game slate nights. It is very easy to be on the wrong side of the slate and miss entirely, so money management is vital to your long term success.

J.Tavares $7,500 A. Lee. $5,500 J. Bailey $5,100
The Isles go into Columbus after they have just sat for 5 days and will be flat, id not care what you say. The Islanders first line of Tavares-Bailey-Lee o the BLT line has been tearing up teams and tonight they will take advantage of a flat Columbus team who has been off to long. I like this line to find the score sheet again as they continue their torrid scoring pace and a young, relaxed Blue Jackets team.

Over in Toronto, Tyler Bozak is not going to play as he missed practice yesterday and today’s skate, according to the beat writers. Ben Smith will slot into the first line and at a $3,000 price you can sign me up. Skating with JVR and Connor Brown on his side, Smith will look to prove he belongs in the big leagues as he skates against a Canadiens team that gets back Andrighetto and Desharnais in the lineup. Hockey night in Canada is something that no one in this country truly understands and comprehends as how big and important it is to the people of Canada. hat said, I think this will be one of the best games of the night as both teams can score but are struggling defensively somewhat. Price is 1-3-1 in his past 5 games, which is no where near the Carey Price we are used to. Andersen is in net for Toronto, so he will be ready to show up his counter-part at the other end of the ice.

C. Kunitz $3,800. M. Murray $8,200
The Pens hots the Flyers outside at Coors field without Letang, Schultz, and Daley on defense, all injured. One thing about these games, the ice isnt the best and the puck tends to jump, I tend to lean towards this game being under 4 goals because I hung the Pens will shut the flyers down but due to the ice factor, scoring wont be s high as it would normally be. Sure I may be wrong, but i am drawing my line in the sand on this game staying under tonight. Hamelin is priced at $3,800 in this game and seems to be the best value here. i am fading this game all together as i think scoring wlll be elsewhere.

A. Ness $2,500
Washington rolls into Nashville after playing last night and are depleted on the back end with Niskanen, Oshie, and Orpik all sidelined for tonight’s game. Aaron Ness will slot in on defense at a $2,500 price tag. This is a nice play if you need to slot in a more expensive player like Burns or Tavares and Matthews tonight. You need to play close attention to who is playing on defense and the pairings the beat reporters write about.Sometimes things change atthe last second, so always be on your game! The Predators are 1 point out of third place and can jump into that position with a win. Forsberg has been ridiculous lately so i am going to stay with the hot hand. With the depleted back-end and back-to -back travel, I like the Preds to continue their string play and beat the Caps at home tonight in Nashville. Look for this game to see some goals as both team rank high in 5v5 goals.

In net tonight I am going to go with the Penguins’ Fleury who i think will shut the door on the Flyers will seeing plenty of shots. The ice may look the same but it isn’t and directly affects the game so I am going to Fleury to play strong and backstop the Pens to a Stadium series win.

J.T. Miller. $5,600 K.Hayes $5,400 M.Grabner $5,200          Rangers go into the Rock in Newark tonight as they continue to gain momentum in their race to get to the playoffs. Raanta will be in net, who is a solid play, but I opted for Murray, but look to Raanta as a close second. The Devils are in the bottom 5 offensively and having seen at least 200 of these rivalry games in my life, i can tell you they are always low scoring affairs, sometimes a shutout on either side. Today I think the play of Miller and Hayes along with Raanta in net will propel the Rangers to pay closer attention to their defense which has been weak as of late. If they want to make any type of run, they need to secure the back end with grit and physical play. They are serious lacking in the toughness department and may make a move in this direction at the trade deadline this week.