The Shot Dude: Road Warriors

There's a natural bias in sports to think the home team has the best chance to win.

I admit to thinking this way, and anyone can see it in my fantasy recommendations.

But, as Buzz Lightyear so succinctly put it, not today.

Your favorite Shot Dude has six road warriors to enhance your fantasy lineups. It might just prove to be a sweep for all the road teams tonight, so keep your digits crossed. Or not.

Take a look at tonight's six NHL games with the help of the Bovada data tool on our Home page:

You can never lose by playing fantasy games on FanDuel. You earn player points for every game you enter and can redeem them for additional games.

What a system! So get started making your team with these ideas:

Forwards

Corey Perry, Anaheim ($7500) ... has recorded 5 goals and 3 assists in his last 5 games and should easily top last year's total of 55 points. Perry has lit the lamp 28 times this year on 178 shots. Dude's 49 total points in 65 games is second to only Ryan Getzlaf for the team lead. The Ducks will be in Colorado tonight, but nothing has slowed them down lately. With only one loss in their last 12 contests -- and that was in a 2-1 shootout to Washington -- Anaheim has now taken over first place in the Pacific Division, possessing a scrappy 16-11-4 road record this season.

Frans Nielsen, New York Islanders ($6100) ...  tallied a goal and five assists in his last three games that rewarded his fantasy users with a score of 5.0 or higher in each. Nielson is a true road warrior with 62 career goals scored in 291 road games and 56 goals coming in 298 home contests. This whole Isles team is rolling right now, winning four consecutive games and only dropping two of their last ten. New York will travel to Toronto to face a banged-up and depleted Leafs squad -- as if that makes a difference! -- that's lost 6 straight tilts.

Craig Smith, Nashville ($6100) ... almost single-handedly defeated the Winnipeg Jets last night, registering 2 goals on 3 shots in the Preds' 4-2 victory. In fact, Smith might just be the NHL's hottest player that no one's talking about, with 5 goals and 5 assists in his last 5 contests. Prior to this recent binge, dude had only 22 points in 62 games. Smith and his Nashville mates seem to be making a playoff push -- 8 victories in their last 10 games -- and face Calgary tonight. The Flames have all but packed their off-season bags, posting just two wins in their last 10 tries.

Defensemen

Duncan Keith, Chicago ($5800) ... is one of the NHL's steadiest d-men around, amassing 41 points in 57 games this season. He's one of the reasons that Chicago contends for Lord Stanley's Cup every year. Dude has recently grabbed 9 points in his last 10 contests and hopes to continue this successful trend in St Louis tonight. It's never easy to get a win at the Scottrade Center, but the prize for the Blackhawks will be first place in the Central Division if they can pull it off.

Sami Vatanen, Anaheim ($5400) ... is never afraid to blast the puck from anywhere on the ice, with 133 shots resulting in 9 goals. His 28 helpers shows how valuable this blueliner is to his team. With 10 points in his 10 games, this Finn is one of the reasons why only five NHL teams have more points in the standings than Anaheim. I expect at least one point from Vatanen tonight in Colorado, the team that ranks 23rd with an average of 2.9 goals/game allowed this season.

Goaltender

Corey Crawford, Chicago ($9900) ... has picked up five significant wins lately. Dude's beaten Detroit twice, Dallas, Washington, and the New York Rangers. These are not pushovers, and Crawford has saved all but 5 of the last 97 shots he's seen. Even though Chicago will make the short trip to St Louis to face the Blues tonight, I like the Hawks to get the win due to Crawford's career dominance. Not only has he taken two of three meetings from St Louis this year, he has 14 total wins against them, themost against any team in his career.

Your favorite Shot Dude hopes the long and winding road leads to you winning some fantasy cash.

As always, go out and give this world your best shot!

You can follow me on twitter@fsofia8.