Controversial Call Goes Against Team USA At World Juniors

We've reached one of the best week-and-a-half-or-sos on the hockey calendar _ the World Junior Championship — and it didn't take long for a bit of controversy to strike.

After Sweden dispatched Slovakia by a score of 5-2, Team USA was next to hit the ice in Ottawa for a game against Germany.

Now, over the last few years, Germany has been one of the most up-and-coming nations on the international hockey stage, whether that's at the World Juniors or the Olympics or the World Championships.

Now, I mention that because they can never be counted out and Team USA was on the verge of learning that the hard way.

After jumping out to a 3-0 lead, the Germans struck back with a goal of their own and then added to it with a goal from David Lewandowski.

That was a great shot from the 17-year-old who plays for the WHL's Saskatoon Blades, but Trey Augustine — a Detroit Red Wings prospect who plays for Michigan State — is going to want that one back in the worst way.

And, for a little bit, it looked like he might. That's because if you re-watch Lewandowski's goal, a couple of his teammates were in the midst of a line change, and because it was in the second period, they were using a door that was in the offensive zone. 

One of the Germans appeared to have a foot on the ice when Lewandowski entered the zone, so Team USA head coach David Carle challenged it.

I thought for sure this goal was coming off the board and I think everyone else did too, but…

I'm still trying to figure that one out, but it seems like they determined that the German player was not involved in the play, and therefore they cut them some slack on the slow change.

I don't agree with that, and there's no denying that it was a hugely consequential call because the failed challenge resulted in a Team USA penalty.

Fortunately, they killed it off, and it seemed like the momentum from doing so helped them offensively as the Americans added three more in the second period to take a 6-2 lead to the locker room.

They kept scoring in the third and Team USA opened their tournament with a big 10-4 win to open their tournament slate.