Anderson trying to stay in shape while finger heals

Ottawa Senators goalie Craig Anderson on Thursday spoke to the media for the first time since badly cutting his finger while preparing a meal last week.

The cut required surgery to repair a severed tendon in the pinkie finger on Anderson's right hand. The right-handed Anderson said he's still unable to hold a stick.

"I really don't care to talk about the details of it all," Anderson said at Scotiabank Place on Thursday. "(It was a) freak accident. Happened in the kitchen. Leave it at that. Something you learn from. Unfortunately, it was a costly mistake."

In Anderson's absence, Robin Lehner, 20, will make his third straight start in goal when the Senators host the Chicago Blackhawks on Friday (7 p.m. ET, TSN).

"All I can do right now is make sure I stay in shape," said Anderson. "I'm able to go out there and skate with my gear on, so that's the main thing right now -- just keeping my legs (in shape) and keeping everything strong so that when I do have a chance to come back, I'm physically ready to go.

"The pain factors into it, and we don't want to reinjure it. So there's a lot of things to take into consideration, but holding a stick is one of the main things that enables me to do my job."

Anderson said he knew right away that he had a big problem.

"I knew it was severe when it happened," he said. "I knew it wasn't the end of the world. I knew I had an issue, I knew I needed to take care of it. My main concern was just to get the help I needed right away, get the right people involved right away to make sure the road to recovery happened as soon as possible."

Anderson, who is tied for fifth in the League with 29 wins, is uncertain how long he will remain sidelined.

"Hard to say. Timeline is wide open right now," he said. "All I can do is make sure I stay in shape. Go out there and skate with my gear on, keep my legs, keep everything strong so that when I am ready to come back, I am physically strong.

"Right now, it's still the opening stages of everything. One hundred-percent recovery is obviously not going to happen in the short-term. To be able to play is the main thing right now, and there is no timeline on that right now. There's improvement every day."