Young Ducks making a splash

The future of the NHL arrived in Southern California last week in the form of the Pittsburgh Penguins, and the four youngsters leading the team’s surprising ascent in the Eastern Conference are quickly gaining fame.

Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Jordan Staal and Marc-Andre Fleury. They took Tinsletown by storm in beating the Kings and selling out Staples Center.

As they make a return engagement tonight to face the Ducks, they’ll see the team of the present powered by another young foursome.

Ryan Getzlaf, Chris Kunitz, Corey Perry and Dustin Penner, a group of twentysomethings, have helped fuel the Ducks’ best start, a 10-0-4 record that makes them the only team without a loss in regulation.

Even if few seem to know who they are.

“We don’t need it,” Getzlaf said of the lack of attention. “We’d rather put the spotlight on our team.”

Together, the names Getzlaf, Kunitz, Perry and Penner sound more like a powerful law firm. But their power is on the ice. The Ducks needed their young forwards, who all got their feet wet last season, to make a big splash. The ripple effect is being felt.

Kunitz has a team-leading six goals, Getzlaf has five, Penner has seven points in his last seven games and Perry’s 10 points is three off the club lead.

In all, the Ducks’ own “Fab Four” have accounted for 19 of the team’s 50 goals, rising to the challenge put out by second-year Coach Randy Carlyle.

“We all have different expectations placed upon us by the coaching staff and by ourselves,” Penner said.

Individually, none of them is as transcending as Crosby or as electrifying as Malkin. Collectively, it’s a different story. They could keep the Ducks in Stanley Cup contention for years. Kunitz, 27, signed a two-year deal in the off-season and Penner, 24, and Getzlaf and Perry, each 21, are restricted free agents who probably will stay in the fold.

“They do benefit from being on the team with big star power so they get overlooked sometimes,” General Manager Brian Burke said. “And they play on the West Coast, so our team gets overlooked all the time.”

Burke has often credited predecessor Bryan Murray with laying much of the groundwork, giving the Ducks plenty of talented players in either their first or second season. Getzlaf and Perry were drafted in the first round in 2001 and Penner and Kunitz were signed as undrafted free agents. Rookie Shane O’Brien was an eighth-round selection in 2003.

Burke added overlooked 26-year-old defenseman Francois Beauchemin, who came in the Sergei Fedorov trade last winter, and last summer signed undrafted rookie forward Ryan Shannon, 23, who has shown flashes of brilliance.

“Sidney Crosby is a great player,” Burke said. “Malkin’s going to be a great player. But you’ve got to pick first and second overall to get those guys. [Our] guys are much later picks. And I think they’re going to be impact players.”

Kunitz is a late bloomer. The Ducks lost him to Atlanta through waivers, then got him back when the Thrashers also waived him. He found a home on the top line with Andy McDonald and Teemu Selanne, setting club rookie records last season with 19 goals and 41 points.

Like the Ducks themselves, Kunitz is drawing more attention from opponents.

“It’s going to be different,” Kunitz said. “Maybe last year we flew under the radar. This year, we’re not going to.”

Penner is the untapped well of talent. Still a rookie since he played in only 19 regular-season games last season, the skilled 6-foot-4, 243-pound winger burst into the spotlight with a starring role in the Ducks’ playoff sweep of the Colorado Avalanche.

“To sustain yourself in this league, to be around for a while, you’re going to have to keep improving,” said Penner, who had three goals and six assists in 13 playoff games. The playoffs “gave me a lot of confidence. It took a lot of hard work to get there and that was kind of the icing on the cake. Just a glimpse of things to come.”

Perry is the quiet one. After dominating Canadian junior hockey for four seasons, he was overpowered in his NHL baptism. Then came a midseason stint in the minor leagues, resulting in a more confident player.

“We want to be contributors to the team,” he said. “We don’t want to be passengers.”

Getzlaf may ultimately be the star. At 6-3 and 215 pounds, the Calgary native carries arguably the hardest shot on the team.

Consistency may be the final step for the forward.

“That’s what this league is all about,” said Getzlaf, who had 39 points in 57 games last season. “Bringing the same game and being that presence every night.”

Carlyle said the best thing for the bunch last season was for them to spend time in the American Hockey League with the club’s minor league affiliate in Portland, Maine. All four played key roles in the Ducks’ second-half surge and playoff run.

“We cautioned them at the end of the year that the sophomore jinx would be unacceptable,” Carlyle said. “We couldn’t be in a situation where we were waiting on people.”

The wait seems to be over.

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eric.stephens@latimes.com