Dany Heatley poised to start for Ducks tonight

The Ducks’ Corey Perry looked at a whiteboard with the Chicago Blackhawks’ lines written on it, knowing that it’s going to be another stiff assignment with Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews to confront.

Good thing Perry will have Dany Heatley on the opposite wing.

The two-time 50-goal scorer is expected to be activated before Tuesday night’s game at United Center in what will be his debut for the Ducks (7-2) after suffering a preseason groin injury.

“It’s exciting, he’s proven over the years that he can score goals, and he’s looking to have a bounce-back year by his standards,” Perry said. “Everyone in this organization is excited to see him get going.

“We need that. [Chicago] is a very good hockey team. We’ve got to go out and prove ourselves each and every game, having ‘Heater’ with us makes it nice.”

LOVEJOY LOSS: The pending move to injured reserve for Ducks defenseman Ben Lovejoy, who broke a finger throwing a Sunday night punch at San Jose’s Joe Pavelski and will miss six to eight weeks, is expected to be filled by Heatley’s activation.

Defensively, the Ducks appear set to move Clayton Stoner alongside Cam Fowler on the first pair, keeping Hampus Lindholm and Francois Beauchemin together on the second pair and teaming Sami Vatanen (three goals, seven points) with Mark Fistric on Tuesday night.

“You don’t like [injuries] to happen, but you deal with it, you don’t sit and whine about it,” Ducks Coach Bruce Boudreau said. “I expect that [new] guy to do as good a job as Ben did.”

LINE CHANGE: With Heatley in, forward Devante Smith-Pelly shifts to the second line with center Ryan Kesler and forward Andrew Cogliano.

“Kesler moves a little faster -- both elite centers -- Kesler is more of a shooter, ‘Getzy’ is always looking to pass,” Smith-Pelly said. “With Getzlaf, you’ve always got to be looking for the puck. With Kesler, you have to go to the front because he’s probably shooting it.”

STAR-WORTHY?: Ducks forward Tim Jackman received 21 penalty minutes in the fight-filled loss to San Jose on Sunday, when 37 penalties for 165 minutes were whistled.

When broadcast reporters voted for the night’s “Three Stars” post-game honor, Jackman’s fighting gained him a star.

“First time I’ve ever got a star for that,” Jackman said. “[San Jose] was playing us hard and physical, our two leaders, Getzlaf and Perry, got upset, were fired up. It brought everyone up to a new level, the frustration set in for all of us and got out of hand.

“That’s not the way we want to handle ourselves. That night got out of hand.”

The Lovejoy injury was the most impactful loss from the evening.

Jackman in 2008-09 racked up 155 penalty minutes playing for the New York Islanders, and called Lovejoy’s fighting injury “tough luck,” noting that there is a correct way to throw a punch.

“A tough guy in the minors once told me, ‘These ones hurt you [the opponent],’” Jackman said, pointing to the knuckles under his index and middle fingers.

He then said the teammate explained about the knuckles under the ring and small fingers: “These ones hurt me.”