Ryan Kesler’s personality, like his game, can best be described as blunt. He’s direct, to the point. No reason to use five words, or 10, when one or two will do.

So, here’s his assessment of the Chicago Blackhawks, the Ducks’ next opponent: “Quick team, dangerous team, but a beatable team.”

Kesler might have the most important job in the Western Conference finals for the Ducks. He might be given the role of shadowing Blackhawks center Jonathan Toews, enabling Ryan Getzlaf to focus his energies elsewhere during a long-awaited and much-anticipated series.

The Ducks couldn’t say how they might match up against the Blackhawks after Tuesday’s practice because they hadn’t gotten that far in their preparations for a best-of-7 series that’s not expected to begin until Sunday afternoon at Honda Center.

So, the Ducks and coach Bruce Boudreau could only speak in generalities about the Blackhawks, who reached the conference finals for the third consecutive season and for the fourth time in six years after sweeping the Minnesota Wild in the second round.

The Ducks reached the conference finals for the first time since their Stanley Cup championship season of 2006-07, and Boudreau advanced beyond the second round for the first time in his award-winning career with Anaheim and the Washington Capitals.

Unlike the Winnipeg Jets and the Calgary Flames, the teams the Ducks vanquished in the first and second rounds, the Blackhawks are battle-tested playoff veterans. There’s zero margin for error in this round, which means the Ducks must play better than they did in the first two rounds.

The Ducks weren’t flawless in their play while winning eight of their first nine playoff games.

And they might need to be close to perfect in order to subdue the Blackhawks.

“We know to win games,” Kesler said. “We’re going to make it our kind of game and we’ll be fine.”

Does that mean hitting the Blackhawks, as in the Calgary series, instead of skating with them?

“Yeah, something like that,” Kesler said.

If you wanted more insight, if you wanted a more expansive analysis, you had to look elsewhere.

“It’s a good, experienced team that skates well, so we’re going to have to adjust our game plan a little bit without going away from the things we do well,” Getzlaf said of facing Toews, Patrick Kane, Duncan Keith, Marian Hossa and the rest of the Blackhawks.

The Ducks and Blackhawks played three times during the regular season, with Chicago winning twice. The Ducks won a game that was more physical and the Blackhawks won while playing a more wide-open style that catered to their offensive skills.

“We’re a confident group here,” Boudreau said. “We think we’ve played well. We’re looking toward the challenge. We were arguably more experienced than the previous two teams. Now we’re meeting a team that has a base of guys that have been through all these things.

“I don’t think anything is going to rattle these guys. I think they know what playoff hockey is all about. I’m pretty sure they know the pace they have to play at. We’re going to have to be better. It’s simple. Every round is tougher.”