Ducks roll to NHL record

Now they’re impressed.

The Ducks won’t entertain comparisons with one of the great teams in NHL history but they gladly took down one of its many records Thursday night, routing the Vancouver Canucks, 6-0, at General Motors Place.

In improving to an NHL-best 12-0-4, the Ducks set a league mark with a point in their 16th consecutive game to start the season, surpassing the record set by the 1984-85 Edmonton Oilers.

The Oilers went on to win their second consecutive Stanley Cup that season. For the moment, these Ducks have that championship vision.

“I think our goal this year is bigger than this” streak, goaltender Jean-Sebastien Giguere said. “It’s nice to have it. It’s been a long time and obviously it doesn’t happen every year.”

The Ducks dispatched a Vancouver team that skated two rookie defensemen in their first NHL game to cover for injured blueliners Sami Salo, Willie Mitchell and Rory Fitzpatrick.

The Ducks’ latest win was powered not by their one-two punch of Scott Niedermayer and Chris Pronger but by those usually outside the spotlight.

Rookie defenseman Shane O’Brien had a goal and two assists, defense partner Joe DiPenta got his first point of the season and career minor leaguer Shawn Thornton collected his first two points with the Ducks.

Ryan Getzlaf scored two goals, and Todd Marchant, Chris Kunitz and Samuel Pahlsson each chipped in. Giguere stopped 20 shots for his second shutout, matching his total from last season.

“We feel good about our game,” Ducks Coach Randy Carlyle said. “We’re able to continue to build on some of the earlier successes we’ve had. I just look at it as we just got a workmanlike attitude. The most gratifying point for us was probably that our young players made a major contribution.”

The Ducks grabbed a 2-0 lead on their first four shots. O’Brien appeared to try to get the puck to Corey Perry, who was sitting outside the goal crease, but his pass deflected off the skate of Vancouver’s Matt Cooke and into the net past Canucks goalie Roberto Luongo. O’Brien later assisted on Pahlsson’s and Getzlaf’s goals for his first career three-point night.

Kunitz put in his team-leading eighth goal as he got the puck back on a bounce off one of the Canucks’ neophytes, Nathan McIver, and banged in a backhand. Pahlsson added his third goal of the season on the Ducks’ eighth shot against Luongo.

After Pahlsson beat him, the Canucks’ $27-million franchise goalie was replaced by lightly used Dany Sabourin.

The Ducks survived a couple of close calls in the first period when the Canucks couldn’t cash in on a couple of open nets.

Vancouver’s only other look at the game came in the second period when it gained a power play on a bench minor by the Ducks for too many men on the ice and a two-man advantage for 49 seconds when Travis Moen was whistled for tripping Brendan Morrison.

Niedermayer, Pahlsson and Pronger swallowed up every advance by the Canucks into the offensive zone before they could get it set up, easily erasing the penalties without allowing a shot.

“They didn’t give them any room at the blue line to give them chances to get into their zone,” Giguere said. “I think these guys are amazing.”

Giguere carried them the rest of the way and the Canucks folded their tents for the final 20 minutes. It could have been worse; Kunitz missed on a breakaway and Teemu Selanne fanned on an easy tap-in rebound.

But those flubs hardly mattered. These days, everything is going the Ducks’ way.

“I still think we have another level to go to,” forward Todd Marchant said.

TONIGHT

at Calgary, 6:30, Ch. 56

Site -- Pengrowth Saddledome.

Radio -- 830.

Records -- Ducks 12-0-4; Flames 5-7-2.

Record vs. Flames (2005-06) -- 2-2-0.

Update -- The Ducks return to the scene where they won Game 7 of the Western Conference quarterfinals last season. Calgary traded for Alex Tanguay during the summer to boost its often-dormant offense, but the veteran winger has just three goals.

eric.stephens@latimes.com