The Shot Dude: Short Stack

Published on 30-Dec-2015 by MunkeBiz8

NHL    NHL Daily Stake

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The Shot Dude: Short Stack

Have you ever seen the term short stack used on a restaurant menu?

It's usually in reference to pancakes or French toast, but what the heck does it mean?

Your favorite Shot Dude could never figure out if the stack was measured in height or quantity.

  • If it's height, is there a universal standard like three inches?
  • If it's a quantity, is it two or three pancakes?

The only certainty today is that we have a short stack of five NHL games. Feel free to drool over the details by using the Bovada data tool on our Home page:

Bovada NHL schedule

Even though our friends at FanDuel aren't covered in butter and syrup, their contests are still a great way to start your day. Try a couple, if you haven't already.

Here's a short stack of reasons why each player is worth a lineup look:

Forwards

Evgeni MalkinPittsburgh ($9300) ... is the Penguins' leader with 17 goals. Dude now has 30 points and 101 shots in 35 games. Malkin looks to continue his productive pace of 5 goals in his last 8 games at home tonight against Toronto. I really like the Pens to outscore the Maple Leafs, who've only tallied a meager 39 goals in 18 road games all season.

Nicklas BäckströmWashington ($7200) ... has scored 10 goals on just 56 shots on goal. His over 19 minutes of ice time per game have paid off with 32 points in 32 games, a team-leading 14 of which have come on the power play. The Capitals get home ice advantage on the back end of their home-and-home with Buffalo after taking Monday's game, 2-0, in western New York.

Chris KreiderNew York Rangers ($5600) ... also played on Monday and registered 2 assists against Nashville. That gives Kreider seven points in his last 10 games, not bad as he had only tallied 11 points in his first 27 games. Dude's 35 penalty minutes leads the Rangers, and his 72 shots on goal rank fourth on the team. Both the Rangers and tonight's opponent, Tampa Bay, have an identical 5-4-1 record in their last 10 games.

Defensemen

Justin BraunSan Jose ($4200) ... like Kreider, has 7 points in his last 10 games. He's another skater who has stepped up his play lately after starting the season with only six points in his first 23 games. Braun and the Sharks will host a Philadelphia team that has a sub-.500 road record and has given up 20 more goals than they have scored this season. 

Shayne Gostisbehere, Philadelphia ($3800) ... is far too cheap for the potential he brings your fantasy team. Dude's averaging 3 fantasy points per game on FanDuel; that's the same as Derrick Brassard and Kyle Turris, whose salaries are double what Gostisbehere's is. If the salary savings isn't enough to convince you, he's scored 8 points in his last 10 games. Half of his 14 points have come on the power play, and the Sharks have the worst home penalty kill at a lowly 71.0%.

Goaltender

Matt Murray, Pittsburgh ($6600) ... not only has a cheap price but an impressive performance during his short time in the NHL. In just three starts, Murray has two wins, a low 1.68 goals against average, and a tidy .938 save percentage. Couple this with the aforementioned lack of road goal scoring from Toronto, and Murray could very well get the third win of his career.

Here's to a short stack being long on scoring!

FanDuelscorecard

As in life, you can't score unless you give it your best shot!

You can follow me on twitter@fsofia8.