This Edmonton Oilers forward is doing all he can to escape the doghouse.

EDMONTON -- No one wants to be in the doghouse.

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The Edmonton Oilers don't often have many players in said dog house, but it does happen. Especially this year and especially with Jeff Skinner.

Skinner was brought in with aspirations of top-six deployment in light of no positions available on the Oilers' top powerplay unit. The Oilers were fresh off of a Stanley Cup Final appearance, and Skinner was eager to prove himself after being bought out by the Buffalo Sabres.

To say that it hasn't gone smoothly would be an understatement.

However, with his play over the last two games, Skinner may have scratched and clawed his way out of the doghouse.

At least to the eyes of most spectators of the sport.

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The offensively gifted winger now has goals in back-to-back games. The first came in an Oilers 3-2 win over the Sabres. But then, Skinner was scratched for the next game against the Seattle Kraken.

For a team with an obvious disparity between the top of the lineup and the rest of the team (as far as offense is concerned), it's perplexing to see a player of Skinner's talents so often on the outside looking in.

On Thursday night, Skinner drove himself to the net and cashed in on his second goal in as many games. When asked about it post-game he didn't draw extra attention to the play.

"That one, I just went to the net and put it in an open night," Skinner said. "It's always nice to contribute."

It's safe to assume that Skinner could contribute more if he was allowed to.

But he'd need to be out of the doghouse to see that kind of deployment. And who knows how much further he needs to dig to get out.

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