Berlin and Paris took commanding 3-0 leads in their series Monday, and Bratislava snuck ahead of Munich in their matchup, but the biggest news came from Spain, where Madrid clawed their way back into the series with Athens.

Before the game started, the Royals were dealt a serious gut shot to the lineup. Rick Nash, who came to Madrid to play with Joe Pavelski and Gabriel Landeskog after two seasons in Belfast and a 26-game stint in Stockholm, was ruled ineligible for the game. Nash, whose career blossomed in a Royals uniform and who finished the regular season with 47 goals and 102 points, was suspended two games by league officials. After reviewing video of Saturday’s 6-2 loss in Athens, it was discovered Nash elbowed Greek defenseman Ian White in the head. White went to the bench immediately but did not seem to be injured. The play was missed by the on-ice officials, but not by Greek players. Soon afterward, David Backes was called for an unnecessary roughness penalty when he retaliated on Nash, and tempers flared to the point where Athens’ Theo Peckham and Madrid’s Roman Polak duked it out in a rare playoff fight. Athens won the game 6-2 and took a 2-0 lead in the series. But on Monday in Spain, Madrid took Game 3 by a 4-3 score. The Royals beat Cam Ward 3 times on 6 first period shots, but it was a third-period 2-on-1 goal by Alex Tanguay from Jordan Staal that seemed to do the most damage to the Greeks’ momentum. The goal came just 30 seconds after Ryan O’Reilly scored his second of the playoffs to make it a one-goal game. Tomas Vokoun made a big save with 1:20 remaining on O’Reilly to preserve the slim lead. Game 4: The home team has won all three games in the series and Athens could really slip a tight noose around the Royals neck if they can take advantage of Nash’s absence in the second game in Madrid and return to Greece up 3-1.  The Madrid win didn’t make a whole lot of sense. The Royals were without Nash and they were outshot 41-22. Vokoun can’t be expected to did that much work every game. Here’s a bit of trivia you might not be aware of: Vokoun was the Greeks’ first-ever goalie, drafted in the 5th round of the initial draft. But on Nov. 17, 2012 (WSH calendar), he was traded to Madrid in exchange for Michal Neuvirth, Nick Johnson and a 2013 Round 1 pick that would up being (I’m not sure. A little help Terry?).  Both Neuvirth and Johnson were later packaged with other players in other trades. Oct. 31, 2013, Johnson and Jared Spurgeon went to Prague for Michal Rozsival and Kyle Palmeiri. Dec. 4, 2013, Neuvirth and Mikka Kiprusoff were traded to Stockholm for Cam Ward. Neuvirth was traded again a little less than a year later to London as part of the Brayden Holtby trade.

Bratislava concentrated on containing Munich’s top line and the Eagles’ Jonathan Toews, Marian Hossa and Martin Erat outplayed the Joe Thornton line on Monday. But it was Bratislava’s second line of Franz Nielsen, Kyle Broziak and Tyler Ennis that helped the most in Bratislava’s 5-3 victory. Bratislava now leads the series 2 games to 1. Ennis scored twice and he and his linemates all left with 2-point, plus 2 nights. The defense pair of Christian Ehrhoff and Tyler Myers played very well and finished at plus 3 for Bratislava. Game 4: The Fox have been dealing with injuries this series. Forwards Milan Hejduk and Talgat Zhailauov are just getting back from knocks and might be in the lineup for Munich on Wednesday, but the Fox will be without Swedish defenseman Magnus Johansson, who suffered a groin injury on Monday. Johansson played in Milan last year and Stockholm earlier this year, by was acquired by Munich for the playoff run. The 34-year-old hasn’t produced great statistics for the Fox, but he plays a sound defensive game, keeps himself fit and has good wheels.  Alexandre Picard, who played in 37 games during the regular season, will replace Johansson in the Munich lineup. Bratislava captain Zdeno Chara and Munich assistant captain Dion Phaneuf got into a fight early in the 6-goal third period and both will be sore on Wednesday. Bratislava coach Bruce Boudreau said he is considering bumping Ville Leino down to the fourth line, and perhaps to the press box for Game 4. Leino was the left wing on the Eagles’ top line when the series started but has been ineffective.

The Berlin Smurfs were in control the whole game as they topped Bern 6-3 to take a 3-0 series lead. Kris Versteeg scored two goals for Berlin and now has 4 for the series to lead his team. Berlin had a 5-0 lead when the third period started. Bern made a valiant effort in the third period, but came up a few goals short. Logan Couture, the Smurfs’ no. 1 center, had 8 shots in the game to lead all players. Game 4: Nathan Horton, who leads the team in assists with 5, will be taken out of the lineup for Wednesday’s game, given a rest by coach Adam Oates. Horton engaged Bern’s Dalton Prout in fisticuffs in the second period. Nick Bonino will replace Horton and get his first start of the playoffs and Josh Holden will move up to the third line with Versteeg and Nikolai Kulemin. Bern veterans Henrik Zetterberg and Radim Vrbata scored their first goals of the series Monday and they will have to do more of the same to keep the series alive.

The defending champs seem to have Zurich right where they want them, down 3-0 in the series. Paris outshot the Lions 31-23 and won 2-1. Alexander Semin scored his second of the plaopyffs in the first period and Lee Stempniak scored his first in the middle period when he banged an Alex Pietrangelo rebound past Zurich goalie Brian Elliott. Zurich and Paris skirmished in the third period – the Lions outshot the Eiffels 12-11 – but the only goal Tuukka Rask would allow was Alexander Radulov’s second of the playoffs. That came with less than 2 minutes to play. Despite taking a penalty in the final minute, Pietrangelo was one of Paris’ best players, getting an assist, registering 4 hits and blocking 2 shots. Game 4: Elliott has played better for Zurich as the series has progressed. More backchecking by the offensive-minded Lion forwards and he might get the help he needs to fend off Paris enough to prolong the series. Paris, meanwhile, would feel better about themselves if they got a goal or two out of top line forwards Evgeny Malkin and Joffrey Lupul. The two have taken a total of 27 shots in the series and only scored once (Lupul).