An Unlikely End to Kings’ Streak : Hockey: Hartford wins, 4-0, halting a run of eight consecutive L.A. victories.

And so it ends.

The winning streak.

The shutout streak.

And, perhaps, any chance to streak past the front-running Vancouver Canucks and win the Smythe Division title.

It all came to a surprising end Wednesday night at the Hartford Civic Center where the Whalers beat the Kings, 4-0, ending an eight-game winning streak and a string of 148 games since they were last shut out.

Nobody thought the winning streak, which tied a club record set in 1972, would go on forever.

But who would have thought it would end here?

Who would have thought it would end against one of the weakest teams in the NHL, one that had lost three in a row and couldn’t score a goal two days ago against the Quebec Nordiques, losing 2-0?

Who would have thought it would end with a shutout by Kay Whitmore, a goalie who has struggled so much the Whalers had traded for Frank Pietrangelo only 24 hours earlier.

“We didn’t take them lightly,” said the Kings’ Wayne Gretzky, who didn’t get a shot on goal after scoring at least one point in each of his last 11 games. “We were flat. We had played so well for so long, we were due to be flat. It happens.”

It happened Wednesday.

The Whalers dominated from the start.

Bobby Holik scored his 18th goal of the season in the first period, Pat Verbeek got his 18th in the second period, Yvon Corriveau added his sixth in the third and Verbeek finished up with his second goal of the night into an empty net in the final minute, sending a crowd of 11,554 home happy.

It was an especially happy night for Verbeek, who had been shopped before Tuesday’s trading deadline.

Unhappy with his salary arbitration case that dragged into the season, and a subpar offensive year by the left winger, the Whalers let it be known Verbeek was available. But, they found no takers.

Wednesday night, they were glad to have him.

It was the first King loss since Feb. 21 when the Calgary Flames outlasted them, 9-7.

The Kings are 32-25-13, but they remain seven points behind the Canucks with 10 gamesto play. Vancouver has 11 games.

Hartford is 21-35-11.

“This was the best team effort all year,” Whaler Coach Jim Roberts said.

No argument from Whitmore.

With a strong defensive effort from his teammates, Whitmore, who had lost five consecutive starts to fall to 11-19-6 before Wednesday, had to face only 21 shots, only six in the final period.

Hartford also managed to shut the Kings down on four power-play opportunities.

The Whalers had 38 shots against King goalie Kelly Hrudey, but failed to score on six power plays.

For Hrudey, the loss marked the end of a seven-game winning streak, lowering his record to 23-13-12.

The Kings had only a handful of scoring opportunities all night.

The closest they came to a goal was a third-period shot that Luc Robitaille took from the slot, swatting the puck in midair.

The puck went past Whitmore, but it clanged off the right post.

“What can you do?” King Coach Tom Webster asked.

On Wednesday night, not much.

King Notes

The last time the Kings were shut out was on Mar. 29, 1990 at home against the Winnipeg Jets, who won, 1-0. . . . Forward Scott Bjugstad is out for the season because of an abdominal tear. Bjugstad is awaiting surgery for the injury, which is not hockey related. In 22 games for the Kings, Bjugstad had two goals and four assists.

Center John McIntyre stayed home Wednesday for treatment of a broken nose, suffered in a fight with the Toronto Maple Leafs’ Todd Gill Monday night. McIntyre is expected to rejoin the team today. . . . Goalie Darryl Gilmour has been sent back to the Kings’ Phoenix Roadrunner farm team. Gilmour was Kelly Hrudey’s backup while Steve Weeks had back problems. Gilmour left without appearing in a game for the Kings. . . . Janet Gretzky is pregnant again and due in September. This will be the third child for the Wayne Gretzkys.

Both King owner Bruce McNall and General Manager Rogie Vachon are in Chicago for emergency meetings on the threatened players strike. . . . Defenseman Charlie Huddy returned to the lineup after missing three games because of a strained shoulder. . . . The Kings flew by commercial jet to Hartford. Gov. Bill Clinton has been leasing the Kings’ jet for his presidential campaign. The Kings will get their plane back today for the rest of the trip.