BLAZE head coach Chuck Weber failed to hide his disappointment after watching his side go down 7-0 to Elite League rivals Cardiff Devils in a feisty pre-season match in south Wales.
The visitors had summer signings Kevin Noble and Chris Lawrence making their first appearances for the club while Ashley Tait returned after injury.
But a goal from Zach Hervato after just eight seconds gave Devils the lead after just eight seconds while goaltender Brian Stewart was replaced by Renny Marr at the end of the first period.
Noble and Trevor Hendrikx were assessed five-minute fighting majors before Devils extended their advantage with goals from Guillaume Doucet, Leigh Salters and Andrew Hotham.
Noble had his second fight of the night, tussling with Devils player-coach Andrew Lord, and Doucet made it 5-0 on the powerplay. Jake Morissette and Carl Hudson added further powerplay markers before the latter and Lawrence participated in the third fight of the match.
“It is always disappointing to lose,” said Weber. “Whenever you put on the jersey you want to win but we are battling a bunch of injuries at the moment.
“We knew it was going to be tough. They had 14 of their 18 guys as returners and we had six and that was apparent. They scored four powerplays goals, they have that familiarity and they have also been together an extra week.
“We had a couple of breakaways in the first period and had we taken them it would have changed the dynamic of the game. We allowed it to get away from us but it is not about winning exhibition games, it is about the process.”
