Panthers' Upshall: Gudas hit stems from water bottle incident last season

It appears as though Radko Gudas' questionable hit on Florida forward Scottie Upshall during Thursday's game in Tampa Bay stemmed from an incident that took place last October.

That's how Upshall tells it, anyway.

"(Gudas) mentioned to me, 'That's what you get for squirting me with Gatorade,'" Upshall told Jameson Olive of FOX Sports Florida. "I guess if you squirt a guy with Gatorade you get a blindside elbow to the lips."

The incident in question took place on Oct. 27, 2013, as Gudas was squirted with Gatorade by Upshall while down on the ice in front of the Panthers' bench. Gudas was assessed a two-minute slashing minor, a ten-minute misconduct and a game misconduct, while Upshall was given a two-minute minor for unsportsmanlike conduct.

Earlier on Friday, Gudas stated he wasn't aware of the identity of the Panthers player he had leveled, so clearly someone is fibbing here.

Upshall expected the NHL to review the play, which they did; Gudas, however, received only a warning from Department of Player Safety head Stephane Quintal and will not be suspended for the hit.

The Lightning and Panthers meet again on March 1, so that should be fun.