Genting Casino Coventry Blaze were beaten 4-1 by Manchester Storm in the Challenge Cup at the Altrincham Ice Arena.
Former Blaze defenceman David Phillips grabbed the go-ahead goal for Storm on the powerplay at 13.55.
Luke Salazar doubled Storm’s lead 86 seconds into the middle session before Ashley Tait pulled a goal back at 32.30. 
Matt Caria restored Storm’s two-goal advantage on the powerplay at 55.03 with Vinny Scarsella adding the insurance with an empty-net marker 66 seconds from time.
Coach Chuck Weber said: “We take one step forward and three backwards.
“The guys we brought in to score are not competing hard enough. There is not enough consistency to give ourselves a chance to be successful.
“I am disappointed with this group. When we built this group we thought it had a little more character than they are showing now.
“We have our structure and we have our systems. We need to start winning our one-on-one battles.”
Blaze next take on Belfast Giants in the Elite League at the Skydome on Sunday night (5.15pm face-off).
Weber added: “We need to rebound against a very good Belfast team. We cannot keep doing this to ourselves.
“We need to put together some effort and want it more than the guy across the ice.”
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