It all came down to this: one last breakaway attempt in a shootout. Thomas Vanek facing Atlanta’s Kari Lehtonen. On the line? A date with history. Never before had a team in the NHL started a season 11-0. And the Buffalo Sabres, playing catchup the entire game with the equally formidable Atlanta Thrashers, were within striking distance of claiming a hallowed spot in the record book. This all came about thanks to Jochen Hecht’s tying goal with 1:44 left in regulation, when it seemed that all was lost.

The packed and raucous sellout crowd could feel it, right through the electrifying overtime and into the shootout.

But this shootout would be different. For the first time this season, Daniel Briere was denied, and former Sabre Slava Kozlov answered with what would be the lone shootout tally. It all came down to Vanek’s attempt, and when his shot grazed the crossbar and deflected away harmlessly, in a blink of an eye came the realization that this record was not meant to be.

Nonetheless, the Sabres faithful gave their team a long and heartfelt standing ovation. And why not? If a month ago anyone had asked you if you’d take a 10-0-1 record for the month of October, would you have said “Not good enough”?

In a fitting reply, the Sabres players did not immediately leave the ice. They gathered at the bench and then, as one, skated to the center of the ice to give the fans a salute. It was an electric moment.

Before the game, the players were all saying the expected things: “No, we’re approaching it as we would any other game, competing against an opponent who is right behind us in the point standings,” said Jochen Hecht. Hecht was dealing with his own problems, having been hit in the face with a puck at last week’s game in Long Island, and would have to play on this night with a face shield.

Jason Pominville also made his best attempt to appear calm. “I’d be lying if I told you we’re not thinking about it. Of course the guys here have it in their minds. But what’s more important is the two points.”

But this morning skate wasn’t like most. One could feel the tension in the locker room, and the corridors, and the warm banter one would normally encounter was replaced with hushed whispers, both at the Buffalo and Atlanta ends of the hallway. Then there was the media. Many new faces were in attendance to supplement the normal local contingent. The mike flags said it all: HDNet, Rogers Sportsnet. Both The Hockey News and Sports Illustrated were here as well to do feature stories.

After the game, goalie Ryan Miller didn’t seem disappointed. “Would’ve been fun to make our piece of history, but we’re up there with some pretty good teams,” said Miller.

When asked about starting another streak, Miller replied, “I’ve got nothing better to do for the next seven games.”

Count one wet blanket, ESPN radio host Colin Cowherd, whose syndicated show airs in Buffalo on WGR radio. Never much of a hockey fan, Cowherd took glee in making snarky remarks about the Sabres on his show last Friday, opining that the excitement about the team is building in such places as Wellsville, Ithaca and Binghamton. “I got one email on the topic, but boy was it an emotional one,” said Cowherd.

For the record, the Buffalo Sabres and the Toronto Maple Leafs now share the best start in NHL history at 10-0. Toronto did it in 1993-94, yet the purists up north are already howling. Former Leafs players, has-been Tie Domi and never-really-was Bill Berg, are both commentators for the NHL Network and TSN, and quickly pointed out that Toronto’s accomplishment occurred prior to the shootout era. “”In Buffalo’s case, three of their first four games were won via shootout. Where I come from, we call that a tie,” snapped Berg. Domi, who has found a passion for Canadian politics—or should we say a Canadian politician—since retiring, said, “Toronto’s record will never fall, not unless the league reverts to the old rules.”

Toronto’s Leafs come to town this Saturday, and once again you can count on a loud Toronto contingent in town, packing our restaurants and hotels, waving their homemade tin foil Stanley Cups, and strutting around like they and their team are the true princes of the sport.

Let ’em howl. The 10-0 record is no longer theirs. There will be no asterisks. Enjoy your visit to Buffalo, Toronto fans! Your drive back up the QEW will be a somber one.

TARO SEZ…

■ Leafs haters: Check out the recent edition of The Hockey News and its cover featuring the Leafs and the words “40 Years—0 Cups.” Don’t ya love it?

■ Quick note about the “retro” third jerseys: Taro may be getting on in years, but he is absolutely certain that there was never a number on the front of the old jersey at any time.

■ Think that the Sabres 10-game win streak to start a season is unprecedented in these parts? Hardly! Back in 2001, the UHL’s Elmira Jackals began their season with a 12-game win streak.

■ The last regular season loss by the Sabres? April 7, 2006 to the Flyers…15 games ago.