"Considering the way things have transpired, the Edmonton Oilers are probably happy to see the calendar year come to an end.

Especially considering things are starting to look eerily similar to last year.

On Saturday, the Oilers ended 2011 by losing 4-1 to the New York Islanders and dropping further out of the playoff race.

"I thought we had good energy, we had good pace in the first period, I thought we were engaged," said Oilers head coach Tom Renney. "I thought we were physically involved and we became a little unglued as the game went on. We took some bad penalties and our specialty teams let us down."