Highlights of the Ice Hockey World Championship

"This tournament is a marathon, not a sprint," Swedish defensman Victor Hedman said after Sweden lost their first game in overtime to Russia just over a fortnight ago. He was right! Hedman scored the go-ahead goal in Sunday's final, but Sweden would need a penalty shootout to defeat the defending champions, Canada, to take the gold medal.

Latvian netminder Elvis Merlikins looks for the puck as German forward Frederick Tiffels beats him through the five hole to win the penalty shootout that decided their last Group A game, played at Cologne's Lanxess Arena. As a result, Germany, who finished fourth in the group, now go on to face the winner of Group B, Canada, in the quarterfinals.

No matter where the Latvian national team go, they can be sure that many of their fans will follow them. The Latvian supporters cheer on their team win or lose. Russia proved to be too much for their team though, as they beat Latvia in their Group A match 5-0.

Answer: To get to the bus that would take him to and from a practice session.Here, Andrei Vasilevsky is on his way back to the bus for the short ride to the facility where their dressing room is located, after their practice before Russia's game against Latvia.

Sweden's William Nylander (right) brushes off a challenge from Matias Lassen of Denmark in their Group A game in Cologne. Sweden would go on to win the match comfortably 4-2.

The defending champions couldn't have expected 14th-ranked France to give them much trouble, even if they are playing at home in Paris. The French took a 2-1 lead early in the second and managed to keep the Canadians at bay until the last minute of the period. The gold medalists went on to win 3-2. Here, France's Pierre-Edouard Bellemare (41) gives Canadian forward Mark Scheifele a rough ride.

Germany didn't get off to a good start against Slovakia. Down 2-0 halfway through the game there looked to be no way back for them. But, with less than four minutes left in the second, Patrick Reimer scored to give Germany new life. Less than 30 seconds later, Yasin Ehliz (second from right) beat the Slovakian goalie through the five hole to tie it for Germany, who went on to win it in a shootout.

At 41, French goaltender Cristobal Huet may be the oldest player at the world championship, but he can still stop the puck. Here he makes a save on Switzerland's Vincent Praplan in the penalty shootout that decided their Group B match. France won the shootout to keep their hopes of reaching the quarterfinals alive.

If you hadn't heard of Florian Hardy, you should have after this save! Apparently down and out after making a save, the French goalie, who plays for Dornbirn in the Austrian league, reached out with the paddle of his stick and got just enough of the puck to prevent a goal on the rebound. Finnish forward Oskar Osala, who had taken the shot on an (almost) open net, could only stare in disbelief.

Not all of the games are being played in Cologne; Paris is cohosting the tournament. In their second game, France pulled off a major upset, beating last year's finalists, Finland, 5-1. Pierre-Edouard Bellemare scored the first goal for "Les Bleus" and was named man of the match. He declined to accept the award, insisting that goalie Florian Hardy, who made 42 saves, deserved it more.

Bundesliga football club Borussia Dortmund's south stand is famous for its "Gelbe Wand" or "yellow wall" - made up of many thousands of fans, who turn out in the club's colors of yellow and a bit of black for every home game. The Swedish hockey fans have also turned out in high numbers in Cologne - perhaps not enough of them to call this a "yellow wall," so how about a "yellow fence?"

Germany went into their match with high hopes against another one of the favorites, the United States. However, the German fans' hearts must have skipped a beat when young superstar Johnny Gaudreau got a breakaway just 15 seconds into the first period. Fortunately for the Germans, goalie Thomas Greiss stoned him cold - one of 42 saves he would make as he backstopped his team to a 2-1 upset.

Tobias Rieder of the Arizona Coyotes, one of three NHL players in the Germany squad (along with Greiss and Dennis Seidenberg, both of the New York Islanders), picked up a rebound to give Germany a 1-0 lead on their way to victory in their opening game. Patrick Hager would add the winner in the third period for the 2-1 final score.

The United States bounced back from their shock defeat by Germany to hand Denmark a 7-2 drubbing. Three of the Americans' goals were scored by just one man - 18-year-old rookie Clayton Keller of the Arizona Coyotes - who happens to be the youngest player at this year's tourament.

International ice hockey fans are well known for their creativity in decking themselves out to support their respective national teams. However, it is not every day that you see somebody wearing a cosmonaut's helmet at a hockey game. This Russian fan's "V" sign signals an overtime victory against Sweden for the team that has won more world championship gold medals (27) than any other.

The IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship opened with a match in Cologne between two of the favorites, Russia and Sweden. The two teams finished the overtime period deadlocked at 1-1, forcing a penalty shootout. Artemi Panrin beat Swedish netminder Viktor Fasth to give the Russians their first two points of the tournament.