Genting Casino Coventry Blaze suffered a 3-1 defeat to Braehead Clan at the Skydome in the first leg of their Challenge Cup quarter-final.
Blaze, who were boosted by the return of Ryan O’Marra after injury, fell behind after just 19 seconds when Leigh Salters pounced for Clan.
Captain Ashley Tait, a two-time winner of the competition with Blaze, levelled at 22.41 with his fourth goal of the season and first since mid-November. 
A short-handed Derek Roehl marker at 35.10 handed Clan the advantage going into the third period when Stefan Meyer added a third at 48.41.
The second leg takes place in Glasgow next Wednesday with a two-legged semi-final against Cardiff Devils – who knocked out Belfast Giants – awaiting the winner.
Coach Chuck Weber said: “It was really sad to watch as they could not put two passes together
“We tried to be too cute in the neutral zone and turned over way too many pucks. I told the boys they had to make Braehead come 200 feet but we gave them too many turnovers in the neutral zone.
“The cute plays were not necessary. We had a plan in place and it was not executed. It was really disappointing.”
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