Everyone Active Raiders head coach Sean Easton believes their opening weekend in the National League play-offs could be key.

Raiders host Telford Tigers at Romford's Sapphire Ice & Leisure Centre on Saturday (5.15pm), before facing a return meeting in Shropshire the following night.

And, after five close encounters during the regular season, Easton feels the outcome of these latest matches are vital to hopes of reaching the finals at Coventry for a second successive year.

"Telford is an important weekend, I see it as a must four-point weekend if we are to progress to Coventry," he said.

"Telford finished the season on a six-game streak. During the season our series has been entertaining for sure with three games going to overtime and a split win record."

Tigers won the first match in late September 6-5 in overtime, then came out on top after penalty shots in Romford on October 21.

Raiders rallied for an overtime win on their second trip to Telford in mid-December, then won back on home ice last month.

And the final clash on March 9 proved a rollercoaster, as Tigers raced into a 4-0 lead, before Raiders netted six unanswered goals in the second period.

Easton's men eventually suffered an 8-6 loss on that occasion, but they ended their campaign in seventh place, six points behind Tigers, after mixed fortunes last weekend.

Starting goalie Ethan James and leading scorer Adam Laishram were rested, with Brad Windebank returning between the pipes to backstop the team to a 3-1 win in Swindon.

Tomasz Malasinski put Wildcats ahead, but Jake Sylvester and Tjay Anderson netted in quick succession in the middle period to turn things around.

Elliott Dewey's empty-net goal sealed the points, to the delight of Easton, who added: "Last weekend gave us a chance to get Brad back in the net after a long time away from playing from injury.

"This was important to get Brad game time going into the play-offs and he played like he hasn't missed a game!

"Swindon we played a great road game, scoring at timely moments and defending well through the neutral zone.

"Keeping a team like Swindon in their home rink down to one goal - even though that shouldn’t have been allowed! - is no easy feet.

"And it just gave us more belief that we can pick up points on the road."

Sunday's home game against runners-up MK Lightning ended in a 4-1 defeat, after Brandon Ayliffe had opened the scoring early on.

But with Raiders set to meet Swindon and MK again in the coming weeks, with a trip to Coventry on the line, Easton was pleased to come away unscathed.

"Resting Laish was more about making sure he didn’t pick up any injuries over the last weekend of the season," he said.

"He would surely be a target playing the teams in our play-off group."