"Facing another big deficit following another poor first period on their long road trip, Ducks captain Ryan Getzlaf was intent on sending a message to some sleepy teammates.

As soon as the puck dropped to open the second period, Getzlaf dropped his gloves to engage Buffalo center Cody McCormick in a fight that ultimately didn't get him a decision.

And while the scuffle's impact didn't carry any immediacy in a 5-2 loss to the Sabres, the Ducks saw the moment as one that they hope will resonate.

"I think so," Bobby Ryan said. "I think he's trying to instill something through everybody. If he's going to go out and set an example in that sense, the guys got to follow. Not by fighting but by carrying through in the physical play and doing other things like that."

As a rule, Ducks coach Randy Carlyle doesn't want his star players fighting to get the team going. "That's hockey," he said. "If you want to take that out of it, I'd rather have to tone people down instead of instill it in people. That's the way I look at it."

Getzlaf acknowledged that he was trying to stir something within the group after it got down, 3-0, to the Sabres on goals by Drew Stafford, Nathan Gerbe and Tyler Ennis.

"That's all part of the motivation thing and trying to get involved in the game," Getzlaf said. "I thought it relatively worked, for a couple of minutes anyway. We just weren't able to get back from the deficit that we were at."

Getzlaf is navigating through his first season in the role he inherited from the retired Scott Niedermayer. Little has been made of it but there have been times when he's addressed the team within the dressing room."