Cardiff Devils punished Braehead Clan and extended their unbeaten run to nine matches.

Elite League leaders Devils scored two powerplay goals at the Braehead Arena, taking their PP total against their Scottish rivals to six in two games.

Devils eased to a 3-2 win in an arena where the atmosphere was hot as the home team pressed for the last few minutes.

On the same night Dundee Stars won 4-1 against Fife Flyers.

Former NHL centre Ryan Potulny, an American from North Dakota who played for Edmonton, Chicago, Ottawa and Philadelphia, was ruled out of the Clan team by injury and said: “It was a great game and both teams played well.

“It’s frustrating to see Clan play that well and come up one goal short. It stings a little bit when it happen three games in a row.”

In their previous two fixtures Clan led 3-1 against Guildford Flames and Devils in Cardiff Bay, while they were 1-0- ahead against Cardiff in Glasgow before losing.

Clan called a time-out with 90 seconds left and netminder Ryan Nie was keen to get off and give Clan an extras skater, but Devils controlled the play.

Nie rushed off in the last minute and Braehead pressed, but Devils blocked shots and only allowed Clan to shoot from long range.

Former Devils player Bari McKenzie and Canadian forward Brendan Brooks both said Clan had to stay out of the penalty box and avoid giving Devils PP chances during period break interviews with BBC Scotland.

Cardiff, though, had two powerplay chances and scored twice.

The teams have played each other three times this season and Devils have won 5-0 and 3-2 away plus 6-4 at home.

Captain Jake Morissette and his team hit back from goal down to win for the eighth time in their last nine fixtures, having drawn 3-3 at Guildford Flames in the Challenge Cup on Wednesday.

Andrew Hotham iced for Devils even though he seemed to be hurt at the end of their cup clash with Flames, while player-coach Andrew Lord was on the bench.

Paul Crowder, Josh Batch and Craig Moore were the injury scratches for Devils, while Cale Tanaka was ruled out for Braehead.

Justin Faryna, Patrick Asselin and Layne Ulmer, making his 99th appearance for Devils, were the scorers for Cardiff against a spirited and intense home team.

It was fast and furious with Clan having the edge in the third period when Devils kept things tight at a time when they had a 3-2 lead.

Match stats:

Scorers, Clan: Jacob Doty 1+0, Michael Gutwald 1+0, Craig Peacock 0+1,

Devils: Justin Faryna 1+0, Patrick Asselin 1+0, Layne Ulmer 1+0, Joey Martin 0+2, Andrew Hotham 0+1, Sean Bentivoglio 0+1, Matt Pope 0+1.

Period scores (Clan first): 1-0; 1-3 (2-3); 0-0 (2-3).

Shots on goal: Clan (on Bowns) 9+4+6=19; Devils (on Nie) 5+9+6=20.

Penalties: Clan 0+4+0=4; Devils 2+12+4=18.

Powerplays: Clan 1/4; Devils 2/2.

Referee: Toby Craig.

Stars of the game: Clan, Michal Gutwald; Devils, Sean Bentivoglio.