Red Wings Highs: Justin Abdelkader

With goalie Jonas Hiller out of position, Justin Abdelkader scored this goal, his 11th of the season, besting his previous single-season high for goals. (Photo by Getty Images) DETROIT – Coming into the season, Justin Abdelkader was depended upon to be a contributing role player in the Red Wings’ everyday lineup. What the forward erupted into in 2014-15 was a threatening goal scorer who broke out with a career season.

Playing 71 games and skating alongside top talent like Henrik Zetterberg and Pavel Datsyuk would help anyone’s stat line but a top-six forward must produce in order to earn his keep.

By January – just 40 games into the 82-game schedule – Abdelkader had already matched his…