Ever since that last Oilers game, the Flames have really been committed to not caring. We are firmly in wasted time territory, and everyone knows it. They’ll probably finish the season with 82 points: a fake .500 by a sad sack team that will either be 20th or 21st in the overall standings, and failed to ever make it interesting.

Spencer Foo’s goal was nothing glamorous, but if the Flames have taught us anything this season, it’s that scoring in the NHL is hard, and be thankful for every single one you get. Besides, it was wholly earned: both by being in exactly the right place at the right time, and even by virtue of the fact that Foo, along with Michael Frolik, led the way with six shots on net, even without the benefit of his very own breakaway (maybe he could’ve made one more exciting?). After debuting with one shot against Edmonton, Foo has put up 13 in the past two games. Probably won’t be a regular occurrence at all, but also difficult to find any fault in that whatsoever.

We also got to see how Foo would perform without Johnny Gaudreau on his line, taking on the defensive zone starts Mikael Backlund is known for, and there was no drop off at all. Again, difficult to get a real evaluation on this, considering how seemingly nobody cared about what was going on in the game at all – and for good reason – but no negatives there, either.

Jon Gillies had a better outing than what he’s fared with so far this season. It wasn’t as confidence-inspiring as Foo’s games have been as of late, but it’s also at least nice to see him have a stronger performance at the NHL level as the year closes out. Not to say he looks as ready to challenge for a spot next season as the forward does, but maybe all hope isn’t lost there.

Though again, such a listless end to the season makes it pretty difficult to really take much stock in anything anyone does at this point. It’s not a preview for 2018-19, it’s just skating through the motions, and maybe getting a puck to take home and frame.

Maybe what everyone really, really needs is a fresh start. There’s a reason guys like Foo and Nick Shore have stood out so positively – they’ve been around this mess the least. (They also have spots to earn for next year, but I digress.)

At least the corpse will stop going through its twitching motions soon. And then maybe the capacity to care will come back. The Flames are 1-9-0 in their last 10, going back to that first game against the Sharks they maybe could have had to maybe still make the playoffs. Winnipeg is 9-1-0 in their last 10, so that this was only a one-goal game, and that the Flames looked borderline capable for parts of it, was nothing short of a miracle.

The Senators and Rangers have at least won twice in their last 10. So congrats to the Flames: they’ve clinched the most lethargic finish to the regular season, and all that’s left to be seen is if it’ll be tied.