For the 2010 to 2011 season, justSports has been given a press pass to attend Boston Bruins home games. We will cover these games periodically throughout the year complete with behind-the-scenes access.Last Wednesday was a hectic day for the Boston Bruins.

In a span of just 12 hours, the team wrapped up its annual Media Day, played its final preseason home game and immediately flew to Belfast, Northern Ireland to begin a week-and-a-half-long European trip in which the squad will play two more preseason games before opening the regular season with back-to-back games against the Phoenix Coyotes in Prague the weekend of Oct. 9.

While Media Day was a success and the team landed safely in Belfast early Thursday morning, the game in between did not go well as the Bruins lost to the Washington Capitals 4-1. It was the Bruins' second loss in two nights to the Capitals, who also defeated the Bruins in Washington the night before by a score of 3-2.

Forward Blake Wheeler did not deny that the team was preoccupied with how busy the day was but said that such distractions should not impact the team's performance.

"There's no doubt there was a pretty big distraction looming," Wheeler told reporters after the game. "There are no excuses though. Everyone in this room wanted to put on a nice show for our crowd before we went overseas, and it was disappointing from that stance. Certainly traveling last night, getting back here and having to pack for 12 days didn't help, but it's no excuse. We're all professionals here, and we have to come out and perform, and we didn't."

Late in the third period of the first game last Tuesday, the Bruins showed their frustration when center Gregory Campbell rammed Capitals all-star forward Alex Ovechkin headfirst into the boards, enticing Ovechkin to retaliate by slashing Campbell with his stick, resulting in both players receiving minor penalties.

On Wednesday, it took the teams only 2 seconds, officially, to pick up where they left off. While Ovechkin sat out Wednesday's game, Campbell and Caps center Matt Henkricks dropped their gloves and fought immediately after the opening face-off to set an early physical tone.

However, the game settled down after the fight as both squads resumed focus.

Washington got on the board first when starting center Nicklas Backstrom scored his first of two goals in the game at 10 minutes, 28 seconds into the first period on a one-time shot from point-blank range in front of the net. Backstrom received a pass from forward Jason Chimera, who swung behind Bruins goalie Tim Thomas in the trapezoid behind the net with the puck and fed Backstrom on the move to earn the assist.

The score would remain 1-0 going into the second period, where things only got worse for Boston. The Bruins had multiple scoring chances in the second period, outshooting the Caps 10-4, but were unable to get on the board and in fact allowed another goal to increase their deficit.

Just 2 minutes in, Bruins center David Krejci received a cross-ice pass within the Caps zone and had Washington goalie Dany Sabourin off-balance, leaving an open net. However, Krejci could not get off a quick shot as he fumbled the puck on his stick, giving Sabourin time to recover and defend against a weak shot attempt.

Minutes later at 3:15, Capitals forward Steve Pinzzotto took a 4-minute double minor high-sticking penalty, giving the Bruins an extended power play. But the Bruins failed to capitalize on the scoring chance and were held without a goal despite controlling the puck in the Capitals' zone for the majority of the power play.

The Capitals again took back-to-back penalties called on Backstrom and forward Marcus Johansson at 7:32 and 9:52, respectively, but again the Bruins failed to score. Bruins' forward Mark Recchi fanned on a loose rebound in front of the net at the end of Backstrom's penalty, and forward Nathan Horton ripped a shot off the left post during Johansson's.

The Bruins were 0-4 on the power play in the second period.

"Tonight we had some pretty good scoring chances, but we didn't seem to connect," Bruins head coach Claude Julien said. "We were missing opportunities, and we had a couple of breakdowns that ended up in our net, and the energy level wasn't where it should have been tonight."

After all of Boston's missed opportunities, it was Washington who would score at 17:08 into the second period to take a 2-0 lead. Backstrom scored his second goal of the game off a slap shot from the right point off passes from defensemen Jeff Schultz and John Carlson.

The Bruins opened the third period hot, getting off four shots in the first 2 minutes of the period, but Capitals goalie Braden Holtby, who split time with Sabourin after replacing him midway through the second period, held strong and prevented the Bruins from scoring off shots taken just feet in front of the crease.

The Capitals would quickly quiet the Bruins' offensive push by scoring the third goal of the game to take a 3-0 lead 2:30 into the period. Forward Andrew Gordon scored his first goal of the preseason by putting home a long rebound off a hard shot from forward Tyler Sloan that Thomas saved but could not control. Minutes later at 6:03, the Capitals went ahead 4-0 on a goal from forward Matt Bradley, his first of the preseason.

However, the Bruins finally took advantage of a Washington penalty as Rechhi netted home a loose rebound in the midst of a scramble in front of the net at 8:45.

For the Bruins, goaltender Tim Thomas made his first appearance of the preseason in what was the team's fifth preseason game. Thomas has been recovering from off-season hip surgery and had been held out of some team practices and all preseason games leading up to Wednesday's start. Thomas played through all three periods and told reporters after the game that his hips and legs felt "really good."

Last Saturday, the Bruins played their first exhibition game against the European squad Giants Select, a United Kingdom all-star team in Belfast. The Bruins won 5-1 after scoring thee goals in the second period.

The Bruins will conclude the preseason this afternoon in Liberec, Czech Republic against the local squad at 1 p.m. before beginning the regular season in Prague against Phoenix on Oct. 9.