Wings GM Ken Holland on Teemu Pulkkinen: “He’s got a weapon. His shot is his weapon.”

DETROIT >> Teemu Pulkkinen has been lighting up the American Hockey League this season.

Now he’ll get another chance to see what he can do against the best of the best.

The Wings recalled Pulkkinen from Grand Rapids after placing Johan Franzen on short-term injured reserve.

Pulkkinen leads the AHL in scoring with 20 goals and is tied for second with 39 points.

“I think the thing we like about Pulkkinen is he’s got a tremendous shot,” Wings general manager Ken Holland said in a phone interview Thursday. “He’s got a weapon. His shot is his weapon. He likes to use it and he seems like he knows how to get open.”

Pulkkinen equaled a Grand Rapids franchise record Wednesday with a goal to extend his goal scoring streak to eight consecutive games. The mark was set by Donald MacLean in the 2005-06 season.

“We felt he deserves to come up here,” Holland said. “Mike Babcock and I had been talking the last little while that if we had an opportunity along the way to see what he could do we would. He certainly deserves to be rewarded with an opportunity.”

Tomas Jurco is also sidelined with back spasms.

“It’s an opportunity for him,” Holland said. “He’ll play in Washington. He’ll be in the lineup. I’m not sure how much he’ll play, Mike Babcock will figure that out as they go.

“He’s been a talented offensive guy,” Holland continued.

Holland wasn’t sure what line Babcock would put Pulkkinen on, but one thing’s almost certain is he’ll play on the power play with his right-handed shot.

Pulkkinen played in three games last season with the Wings and didn’t register a point and had just four shots on goal.

“He had a real good rookie year last year with 31 goals,” Holland said. “He came to camp this year, played some preseason games and played pretty well. He’s picked up where he left off last year and continues to get better. Certainly we’re aware of how he’s doing there.”

Pulkkinen slipped in the entry draft after injuring his shoulder and the Wings were able to get him in the fourth round, 111th overall, in 2010.

The year he was drafted he set a record for assists (36) by a rookie in the Finnish Elite League, breaking the mark set by Teemu Selanne.

“We’ll see what he can do,” Holland said.