I have this same light on my keychain and I love it.
I only run it with L91 primaries though because I've noticed the NiMH rechargeables don't fit it as well because they're 1 to 1.5 mm longer than a primary. This makes it difficult to use one handed and as you mention, results in this scuffing and/or crushing of the cell.
For my uses, I don't mind paying the cost for using L91's because they're so much lighter and my EZAAw lives on my keyring which I always keep in my right front pocket. Run time is a non-issue as well; I've had my EZAAw for a full year now and it's on only its 4th battery. Of course I only use it a total of 10 - 15 min. or so on ave. each day. I've also noticed that at least for my EZ it doesn't heat up as much with L91's compared to rechargeables.
So, you might want to consider using L91's in it, I think they work much better overall in this particular light.