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Red Wings need Jurco to step up with Vanek, Larkin out

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Tomas Jurco is getting the opportunity he's been looking for.

Limited to 11 games due to an early back injury and several healthy scratches, the Slovakian forward is being pressed into duty for the Detroit Red Wings in light of injuries suffered by Thomas Vanek and Dylan Larkin.

Those key forwards are out for one and two games, respectively, and Jurco feels all he needs is one moment of fortune to get on track.

"All I'm waiting (on) is one lucky bounce," he said Monday, according to George Sipple of The Detroit Free Press. "Hopefully, it's going to turn around. That's what I need."

Red Wings coach Jeff Blashill, who's used Jurco sparingly when choosing to play him, believes the 24-year-old can step in to make a meaningful and immediate impact.

"I've made decisions that other wingers have been ahead of him, but it's not because Jurco has played poorly," Blashill said. "I think he can step in and be really, really good. I think what he's probably been waiting for is an opportunity. So for two games here, he gets a real opportunity."

The 2011 second-round draft pick has scored 15 goals in 154 career games, but he's been able to rack up points at both the junior and AHL levels.

All hands will need to be on deck to help Detroit avoid missing the playoffs for the first time since 1990. If Jurco wants to get in on the action, he must do all he can to ensure bounces go his way as early as Tuesday's game against Boston.

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