8 Is Enough to Tie Kings’ Record : Hockey: By beating the Toronto Maple Leafs, 4-1, they equal streak for consecutive victories set by the 1972-73 club.

The last time they did it, they had purple and gold uniforms, Rogie Vachon in goal and only a couple of thousand fans in the stands.

Fast forward nearly 20 years.

Monday night at the Forum, the Kings tied a team record set in the fall of 1972, winning their eighth consecutive game by defeating the Toronto Maple Leafs, 4-1.

But there are some big differences.

Now the uniforms are silver and black, the seats are filled every night and Vachon has moved from the net to the general manager’s seat, where he has put together a club that has jelled at just the right time to become a Stanley Cup contender.

That 1972-73 club didn’t even make it to the postseason.

This team is 32-24-13, good for second in the Smythe Division, seven points behind the Vancouver Canucks with 11 games to play.

“The streak is not on our minds right now,” Wayne Gretzky said. “The only thing on our minds is chasing Vancouver. If we can get within three points of them, we have a chance, because our last two games are against them.”

The Kings haven’t lost since getting blown out by the Calgary Flames, 9-7. That was nearly three weeks ago.

Two nights later, backup goalie Steve Weeks beat the Winnipeg Jets, 4-2.

Since then, it has been all Kelly Hrudey in the net. He has reeled off victories against Vancouver, Quebec, Montreal, Philadelphia, San Jose, Pittsburgh and Toronto to improve his season record to 23-12-12.

Although dropping to 24-38-7, the Maple Leafs put up a fight.

Literally.

There were brawls all over the ice in the final period. Even Hrudey got into one, engaging Toronto’s Lucien Deblois in an elbow-swinging fight.

Tomas Sandstrom opened the scoring for the Kings in the first period by bouncing the puck in off goalie Grant Fuhr’s skate for his 16th goal.

Joe Sacco’s fourth goal tied the game, 1-1, but, before the period was over, Tony Granato put the Kings back in front with his 38th goal, scoring off his own rebound. It was Granato’s eighth goal in his last six games.

The Kings kept the sellout crowd of 16,005 from the parking lot in the final period with two goals, Mike Donnelly’s 25th and Bob Kudelski’s 20th.

Despite the eight consecutive victories, King Coach Tom Webster has continued to shuffle his lines.

Gretzky skated with a different combination for the third game in a row. He has gone from Kudelski and Jari Kurri as linemates to Kurri and Granato to Granato and Sandstrom Monday night.

Kurri moved to the second line Monday, joining center Corey Millen and left wing Luc Robitaille.

“I feel good we have the opportunity to experiment with different combinations,” Webster said.

It doesn’t matter to Sandstrom.

“You look around the team,” he said, “and there are so many good hockey players, it doesn’t matter who you play with.”

Whatever the lineup, whoever the opponent, the Kings have kept going, all the way back to a peak they haven’t scaled in two decades.

King Notes

With the trading deadline at noon today, the Kings are continuing to talk to Toronto about center Dave Hannan. Hannan was out of the lineup Monday and has appeared in only two games for the Leafs since rejoining the team after playing for the Canadians in the Winter Olympics. “We know he might be available,” King General Manager Rogie Vachon said, “but it depends on the price.” The price the Kings reportedly are willing to pay is a seventh-round draft choice. The price Toronto reportedly is asking is a third-rounder. . . . Defenseman Paul Coffey played a entire game for the first time in nearly two weeks. He has been out with back spasms. . . . Fellow defenseman Charlie Huddy missed his third game with a strained shoulder. . . . Should the Kings finish first or second in the Smythe Division, they will begin the playoffs on Forum ice with Game 1 of the division semifinals on April 8 and Game 2 on April 10. . . . The 1972-73 Kings, the only other edition of the club to win eight consecutive games, wasn’t able to sustain their momentum, finishing sixth in what was then the West Division with a 31-36-11 record.