Everyone Active Raiders head coach Sean Easton believes his side can secure their National League play-off place this weekend - if they approach it the right way.

Raiders head to Slough to take on Bees IHC on Friday (7pm), before hosting bottom club Bristol and Peterborough on successive nights at Romford's Sapphire Ice & Leisure Centre.

And a maximum haul could see them clinch a top-eight spot with two weeks of the regular season to spare.

"The Bees game is huge," said Easton.

"Will it dictate the play-off spot? No. But it will have a say.

"We always pencilled in this weekend to be the weekend we qualify for the play-offs with a six-point weekend.

"It all comes down to how the team approaches the games to determine the outcome."

Raiders might have had a maximum four-point haul last weekend, but let a winning opportunity slip in Telford on Saturday.

They trailed by four goals at the first break, with Ethan James making way for Matt Smital between the pipes.

But Adam Laishram and Jake Sylvester netted second-period hat-tricks to turn the match on its head, as captain Aaron Connolly claimed his 300th point for the club.

Tigers replied late in the middle session, then squared matters through Vladimir Luka in the 47th minute as Raiders saw Smital pick up an injury.

James was beaten soon after his return to the ice and the hosts sealed an 8-6 win late on.

"We dropped a ball in Telford," added Easton.

"A bad start which is not acceptable at this stage of the season.

"Every game has a meaning and we just did not show up for the start of the game.

"Second period was a great character period scoring six unanswered goals.

"But this is what frustrates me, knowing the level we can play but not being able to show it enough through the whole season.

"Third period we went back to the poor performance. It was a frustrating night for sure!"

James enjoyed a better night on Sunday with 22 saves in an 8-0 win over bottom club Bristol Pitbulls. It was his second shutout for the club - after blanking Bees with 33 saves in February 2020 - and the 43rd in Raiders history

Joe Tomalin converted an inch-perfect stretch pass from Marco Pascale to open the scoring, with Laishram - with his 50th Raiders goal - and Zack Milton netting either side of a Bristol timeout to make it 3-0 inside five minutes.

James denied Adam Harding a reply with a fine glove save, while the visitors lost Jacob White-Sey to a 5+game penalty for fighting.

Brandon Ayliffe, Sylvester and Tjay Anderson stretched Raiders lead to 6-0 in the second period, before Bristol lost import Tanner Butler to a 5+game penalty for checking 16-year-old Tomalin in the head.

Callum Wells traded blows with Kyle Pow, before Sylvester struck on a powerplay and completed the scoring with 12 seconds left on the clock.

Sylvester became the first Raider to net hat-tricks on successive days since Marek Nahlik - against Oxford and Solent - in November 2016.

"Bristol, with nothing to play for, are a dangerous team as they have no pressure and you normally get a better performance," said Easton.

"But we played a team that had no life which is tough to do in itself."