short-handed 
adjective
1Not having enough or the usual number of staff or crew: the kitchen was a bit short-handed [as adverb]: the management worked short-handed...
- Staff at St Luke's are short-handed, meaning the ones who are there are having to work in more than one area.
- According to sources in Ambon, these battalions have been utilised because the army is short-handed.
- He had checked her records earlier, and the only reason she was hired as a maid was because the staff was really short-handed.
1.1 Ice Hockey (Of a goal) scored by a team playing with fewer players on the ice than their opponent.Patrik Elias scored a short-handed goal and set up a power-play tally by Grant Marshall for the Devils....
- Graham Schlender scored two short-handed goals in a single shift.
- A little less than seven minutes into the second period the Mustangs pulled to within one goal when Sal Peralta scored a short-handed marker.
1.2 Ice Hockey (Of a situation) occurring while or because a team has fewer than six players on the ice.One would have thought that skaters most often used in the most defensive aspect of the game - in short-handed situations - would be the players most specialized in defensive skills....
- One would presume that those players who are on the ice during the most pressing defensive situations - the short-handed situations - are those players whose defensive skills are rated the highest by their coaches.
- It just taxed the Devils, who faced six short-handed situations one night earlier in a 3-1 victory at the New York Rangers.
