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Red Wings rookie Teemu Pulkkinen shows off the puck he used to score his first NHL goal.

(Brendan Savage | MLive.com)

DETROIT - The Detroit Red Wings lone All-Star won't be getting much R&R while the rest of his teammates catch a breather before beginning their playoff push.

But that's OK.

Teemu Pulkkinen is not only young, he's riding a wave of adrenaline after scoring his first NHL goal Tuesday night in the final game before the Red Wings took a week off for the All-Star break.

After getting the Red Wings started toward a 5-4 shootout victory over the Minnesota Wild, Pulkkinen was headed back to Grand Rapids to play three games for the Griffins before suiting up in the AHL All-Star Game Monday night.

He's the lone Red Wings player who will take part in All-Star festivities this season unless one of his NHL teammates is added to the Eastern Conference roster before Sunday's game.

Pulkkinen was named to the AHL All-Star team after leading the league in goals with 20 when he was recalled by the Red Wings. But he hadn't scored an NHL goal in eight games - three last year and five this season - before finally connecting midway through the first period against Minnesota.

He took a pass from Stephen Weiss in the high slot and one-timed a rocket past goaltender Devan Dubnyk to give the Red Wings a 1-0 lead at 9:09 of the first period.

"I was waiting for six games now so it was good to get that," Pulkkinen said. "Obviously it was a great pass from Weisser. I kind of had an easy job there because I was in the middle and I just shoot it.

"I had a couple chances there. Me and Weisser played together, I think, in every game so we had some chances there. Luckily we get the one tonight."

Weiss retrieved the puck for Pulkkinen, who showed it to reporters after the Red Wings overcame a third-period meltdown to win their fifth straight game.

They led the Wild 4-1 after 40 minutes but needed shootout goals from Pavel Datsyuk and Gustav Nyquist to avoid a huge disappointment going into the All-Star break.

"He's a shooter, so when you get a chance in certain situations I'm trying to look for him as much as possible, and that was a great shot by him," said Weiss, a 12-year veteran who did a conditioning stint in Grand Rapids this season.

"It wasn't an easy pass to handle. I've seen a lot of him, especially in Grand Rapids. Played a little bit with him down there and he doesn't need a lot of time to get it off. He knows where he's dangerous and he can find holes, then it's up to the rest of us to try and find him when he's in a good a shooting spot.

"Luckily tonight we were able to do that. Sometimes they don't go in, but tonight it went in."

Pulkkinen is known for his hard shot, which Weiss called one of the most powerful in the NHL, and he's been compared to former Red Wings sniper Brett Hull.

Pulkkinen seemed almost embarrassed when asked about the similarities between him and Hull, who scored 741 NHL goals and won Stanley Cups with Dallas in 1999 and Detroit in 2002.

""It's great but I have one goal," Pulkkinen said sheepishly. "I don't know how many goals he's got. He's far away and I have to work hard to score more."

Coach Mike Babcock agrees.

Babcock likes what he's seen from the 23-year-old Finn but warned that the rookie winger still has some work to do simply to become an everyday player in the NHL.

Babcock has already spoken with Grand Rapids coach Jeff Blashill and Pulkkinen about what needs to be done in Grand Rapids before Pulkkinen returns to Detroit - providing he does.

Pulkkinen's return depends on the health of Tomas Jurco, who has been sidelined since Jan. 6 with a bad back. If Jurco is cleared to play that won't leave a spot in the lineup for Pulkkinen.

Even if Jurco isn't ready to return after the NHL All-Star break, with the AHL All-Star Game Monday in Utica, N.Y., and the Red Wings playing Tuesday in Florida, Pulkkinen might not rejoin the Red Wings right away regardless of Jurco's status.

"Obviously he's got some things to learn," Babcock said. "We're going to send him down. He's going to play in the All-Star Game. I went through it with him right now. I'm going to send those clips to Blash, too, so Blash knows exactly what he needs to work at.

"He adds that dimension of being able to shoot the puck, he's tenacious. He should be able to play in the National Hockey League. He's just got to fix some things."

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