Griffins get Pulkkinen back from Detroit

The Detroit Red Wings on Friday assigned right wing Teemu Pulkkinen to the Grand Rapids Griffins.

Detroit’s fourth-round choice (111th overall) in the 2010 NHL Entry Draft, Pulkkinen won the Willie Marshall Award as the AHL’s leading goal-scorer (34) and was named a First Team AHL All-Star while putting up 61 points in just 46 games for the Griffins this season.

Pulkkinen represented the Griffins at the AHL All-Star Classic in January, and his eight-game goal-scoring streak earlier in the season was the longest in the league in 2014-15. Pulkkinen also became the first player in franchise history with back-to-back 30-goal seasons.

The 23-year-old native of Vantaa, Finland, also appeared in 31 regular-season games with Detroit this season, picking up five goals, three assists and a plus-five rating. The 5-foot-11, 183-pound forward earned his first NHL goal on Jan. 20 vs. Minnesota.

Grand Rapids, the #2 seed in the Western Conference, opens its first-round playoff series at Toronto on Saturday afternoon.