OTTAWA -- Brady Tkachuk is fighting an inner battle to stay patient, sidelined with a torn ligament in his right thumb a few weeks into the season with the Ottawa Senators.

"All I want to do is be out there," the Senators captain said Wednesday, six days after surgery to repair what he called a "fully" torn ligament. "You train so hard, train so long in the summer, that I felt the best I've ever felt coming into this year. It's just a little bump in the road, but I'm now going to take this time to not sulk in it, but when I come back, I don't want it to just be status quo.

"I feel like there's going to be a level to my game that I know I'm going to be able to get to these next couple weeks."

Tkachuk crashed into the boards headfirst -- and hand first -- after a crosscheck from Roman

See Full Page