NHL: 7 Predictions for the Rest of the Regular Season

The road to the Stanley Cup playoffs: what a great time for hockey.

As the end of the regular season approaches, hockey fans will be watching their favorite teams and players closely to see if they will make the playoffs. There are teams who will cave under pressure and teams who will rise to the occasion. It's a pressure-filled final month.

Here are seven predictions for the final six weeks of the regular season.

The Florida Panthers Will Miss the Playoffs

Even though they currently sit in third place—leading their division—the Florida Panthers will drop off in the final five weeks and miss the playoffs.

Their lack of scoring will catch up to them. They are currently third to last in the East in goals for.

They are only four points ahead of ninth-place Winnipeg, and teams like that will be battling hard down the stretch to get into the playoffs.

The Toronto Maple Leafs Will Also Miss the Playoffs

The Leafs have been almost the laughing stock of the NHL in the past few years.

Now, this year, they are right in the battle for the final playoff spot. They are still four points behind eighth-place Washington, so they still have a mathematical chance of getting in, but that isn't going to happen.

The Leafs are 1-8-1 in their last 10 games, and they are just teasing their fans by being in the hunt. They will end up finishing 11th in the East, with a mediocre draft pick, after a mediocre season.

Stamkos Will Score 55

Although he won't reach the 60-goal mark, Stamkos will win the Rocket Richard scoring title.

With 19 games left in Stamkos' season, he sits seven goals ahead of Evgeni Malkin. This is enough of a cushion for a well-known sniper.

Last year, he had 45 goals and the year before, 51, but this year, he will reach a career best.

Sidney Crosby Will Return with Four Games Left

Sidney Crosby will make his much anticipated return to the NHL after missing almost all of this season with a head/neck/etc. injury.

He will return with four games left in the season to help prepare him for a playoff run with the Penguins. Crosby will return just the way he was when he left.

Western Conference Playoff Race Will Come Down to the Final Games

The NHL's Western Conference is such a tight race, and it will stay like that right until the end.

Currently, six teams within five points of each other are battling for four playoff spots.

But teams like Calgary and Minnesota, who sit a few more points back, are still in the hunt.

It's going to be some great hockey down the stretch, and it will be interested to see what happens on the final weekend of the season.

Milan Jurcina Will Finish with a -30 Rating

Milan Jurcina is having a tough season with the New York Islanders.

He currently has a -28 rating in the plus/minus charts, and, with 19 games remaining, it can only get worse. Last year, he only had a -4 rating over 46 games.

However, on the plus side, Jurcina won't catch Bill Mikkelson, who finished the 1974-75 season with a -82 rating.

Paul Bissonnette Will Finish the Season with One Goal

Biznasty2point0 will finish the season with just one goal more than Phoenix's goalie Mike Smith.

The fourth-line grinder, press box regular and Twitter sensation has appeared in 22 games this year for the Coyotes, notching one goal on nine shots.

Expect Biz to be notching one thing for the rest of the season. And it won't likely be goals.