Genting Casino Coventry Blaze began their Challenge Cup campaign with a 4-0 defeat to Sheffield Steelers at the Skydome.
Blaze fell behind when Tyler Mosienko gave last season’s losing finalists – who had coach Paul Thompson returning to his former club for the first time – the lead at 12.50.
Colton Fretter breakaway doubled Steelers’ lead at 23.30 with Mathieu Roy (41.28) and Levi Nelson (59.27 empty-net) adding further goals. 
Steelers netminder Tyler Plante posted a 25-save shut-out as Blaze were blanked for the second time this season.
Coach Chuck Weber said: “It showed we are not up to their level of conditioning, I thought they controlled the pace in the third period.
“We got off to a decent start but the first goal was a crazy bounce, the second was a breakaway, there was a two-on-one and an empty-netter.
“We had some chances which could have been momentum-changers, I thought our penalty kill was OK and on the powerplay we did not have enough net-front presence.
“Thommo takes pride in his team’s work ethic and conditioning. They play at a high tempo and have been playing at a very high pace against some of the best teams in Europe.
“It is a disappointing we don’t have a second game this weekend to bounce back but we will regroup and go back to work on Tuesday.”
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