Kings vs Flames: Flaming Out

Last night was painful to watch. It's even more painful that I don't see things changing for the Kings before the end of the season.

Regardless of who -- or even IF -- the Kings add to the roster before the trade deadline, the defense first mentality of this team is so engrained in it's DNA that the best we can hope to do is limp into the first round of the playoffs, play 4 or 5 games and take the summer off to think about what we've become.

"If I could just take the beach with me, I'd go back to Philly...."

"Oh shit, you heard that, didn't you?"

Sadly, right now we've become an also ran.

THIS makes me sad.

The Kings are running out of time in more ways than one.

Random thoughts from The Queen:

• I thought it was very classy of Charlie Simmer to thank both teams for their patience in waiting through his ceremony since so much was at stake for the game. I just wish he had strapped on some skates -- I think he could have helped the Kings last night.

• I totally forgot about Mike Cammalleri playing for the Flames until halfway through the game. Did the little bastard have to remind me with a goal?

• Dustin Penner is hopeless. I suppose I should be happy he was the Panasonic "Tough Hit Of The Game" but I'm still operating under the delusion that he's supposed to help us score. Maybe IHOP will give him a job when this hockey thing he's doing is over...

• I think some of our Kings players have dogs. I wonder if they can smell pucks? Maybe they can sniff out some goals...

Lastly, here are some of the most inspired tweets I saw last night.

The Kings next game is against Phoenix, the very team that started their slide out of playoff position in the West. Will a road trip to the desert get the Kings back on the straight and narrow path? Let's hope so.

GO KINGS GO!