It's play-off action for Peterborough Phantoms as they set out on the 'road to Coventry' and GB call-ups for teenagers

​The city side start their play-off campaign with a two-legged tie against the Raiders this weekend.

Phantoms are in Romford on Saturday (5.15pm) with the return at Planet Ice on Sunday (5.30pm).

The winners will then go on to Finals weekend in Coventry on the weekend of April 15/16 – the highlight of any hockey season.

Phantoms lost their final two regular season matches last weekend, but still finished a creditable third in the table with an impressive 40 wins from 56 matches to seal a play-of quarter-final tie against a team they have dominated all season.

Slava Koulikov’s men met the Raiders six times in the National League and won on all six occasions – 7-4, 5-3, 10-7, 4-2, 4-3 and 6-4.

It’s an aggregate score of 36-23, but most of the matches were nip-and-tuck affairs with never more than three goals in it at the finish.

Complacency must be avoided, but Phantoms’ success in the National League Cup Final over League champions Leeds over two legs last month shows proved they can beat anyone in the competition.

Phantoms will be desperate to get ace netminder Jordan Marr back on the ice after a three-week absence.

Other quarter-finals this weekend: Home team in first leg named first. Basingstoke Bison v Leeds Knights; Telford Tigers v MK Lightning; Swindon Wildcats v Sheffield Steedogs.

If Phantoms are successful they would meet the winners of the Telford/MK match in a semi-final at Coventry.

Last weekend Phantoms went down 8-5 at second from bottom Bristol Pitbulls before losing a home humdinger 8-7 to rock bottom Hull Seahawks, who foiled a superb comeback from Slava Koulikov's side by scoring a winning goal in the last minute of overtime through former Phantom Nathan Salem.

Phantoms had fought back from 7-4 with just three minutes to go to draw level at 7-7 with two goals from Ales Padelek and another from Lukas Sladkovsky.

Glen Billing also scored twice with Ralfs Circenis and Austin Mitchell-King also on target.

Mitchell-King had been the two goal man-of-the-match of Phantoms’ defeat at Bristol while Will Weldon, Jasper Foster and Archie Salisbury also lit the lamp.

Salisbury’s goal arrived courtesy of a superb strike.

Leeds are the National League champions with Bristol, Bees and Hull the teams missing out on the play-offs.

GB CALL-UPS

Phantoms wil be without senior squad regulars Billy Thorpe and Archie Salisbury this weekend as the talented teenagers have travelled with the Great Britain Under 18 squad to a World Championship event in Belgrade, Serbia.

GB are in Division Two and will face Croatia, Lithuania, Romania, Serbia and Spain between April 9 and April 15.

GB open their campaign against Romania in the Pionir Ice Hall on Sunday with Croatia providing the opposition on Monday.