It was a clean and decisive right hand that knocked Tie Domi down and left him with a bleeding nose last night.

But the fact that Domi, one of the most respected enforcers in the NHL, lost a fight to raw but very game rookie Brian McGrattan actually underlined the declining significance of fighting in the league.

"I haven't fought in basically two years, and he got what, 500 minutes worth of fighting (last season in the AHL) ... he may be the veteran now," Domi said in the wake of the Leafs' 8-0 loss to Ottawa.

Leafs coach Pat Quinn's perspective boiled the second-period scrap down to a minor incident where a rookie succeeded in making a name for himself on a team that badly needed to show some physical might over rival Toronto.

"This kid (McGrattan) is big and strong, and we had another kid like that in Boston (Colton Orr, who broke Wade Belak's nose Thursday)," Quinn said.

"They get maybe seven minutes in a game and I guess the goal is fighting their way into a more regular chance. You don't make much of that. In today's game, you don't have to fight ... you turn it down."

The scrap, which received as much attention in itself as the Leafs' lousy play throughout the game, erupted when Domi challenged the rookie with Toronto already down 4-0 and getting badly outplayed.

Afterwards, Domi snapped at suggestions he was retaliating for McGrattan's earlier conduct, a first-period mixup in which he slammed Eric Lindros.

"C'mon, it's a physical game, Eric got hit, but what happened there had nothing to do with Eric," Domi said. "I'm not a figure skater out there, I drop my gloves, that's what I've done in my career. We were losing 4-0. He did what he has to do to stick around in the NHL. I've been in those shoes before too."

McGrattan, a Hamilton native who rewrote the record book in the AHL last season with 551 penalty minutes, somehow got his right arm out of his jersey during the fight. It then landed flush on Domi's beak, sending him to the ice and verifying the rough trade of hockey enforcers.

"I've been hit many times like that and I went down like that too," said the 6-foot-4, 225-pound McGrattan.

"I grew up down the road in Hamilton so I know how Tie fights. You have to be careful with smaller guys because they spin and twist a lot. I just got my arm free and came over the top. It happens a lot and I have nothing but respect for him."