TORONTO — Anton Khudobin was in net and took the 4-1 loss Saturday night at the Air Canada Centre. His backup, Tuukka Rask, was on the shelf with an injury, something the club didn’t make public until after the game.

“Tuukka was a little bit sore and Khudobin was scheduled to play one of the three games,’’ said coach Claude Julien, noting a three-game road trip that wraps up Monday in Winnipeg. “We felt it was the right decision to play [Khudobin] tonight.’’

Rask, in net for the 6-3 win at Columbus, remained off skates at Friday’s workout, what the club termed a “maintenance’’ day for the No. 1 tender. It appeared Rask was hindered by a leg or hip injury around the midpoint of Thursday’s game, but he remained in net for the full 60 minutes.

No telling whether Khudobin gets the call again Monday vs. the Jets.

“We are two days away,’’ said Julien, asked if he felt Rask could suit up. “My intuition would be yes. But again, we have to take it day by day. If he’s good to go, he’s going to go.’’

Khudobin (24 shots, 20 saves) was not pleased by his performance.

“Felt all right, but my start wasn’t good,’’ he said. “I felt frustration. Second period, I found my game.’’

Rookie Mitchell Marner put a charge into the sellout crowd of 19,466 when he collected a Tyler Bozak pass at center ice, crossed the blue line at full gallop, and lasered a wrister to the top left corner, stick side on Khudobin. Khudobin said he had a clear view of the shot, was shifting to his right to close the angle.

“Like I say, a weird game for me,’’ said Khudobin. “I moved and my stick got caught in the ice while I was moving there. He made pretty good shot, no doubt, but at the same time it was an easy goal — by me.’’

Bergeron misses game

The Bruins took the ice at the Air Canada Centre for an optional workout late Saturday morning and Patrice Bergeron, their injured star pivot, remained no option for the game.

“Day to day,’’ said Julien.

Bergeron, injured earlier in the week during a workout in Brighton, has not been on the trip that began with a 6-3 Opening Night win in Columbus. The “day to day’’ update does not necessarily rule out Bergeron for Monday night in Winnipeg, but his absence here would make him an unlikely candidate to travel to Manitoba.

Julien had little choice — or temptation otherwise — but to keep intact his red-hot No. 1 line, with David Backes centering Brad Marchand and David Pastrnak. The trio clicked for 12 points (6-6) and 18 shots in the win over Columbus.

“We had a hot line, a lot of teams go through that at times,’’ noted Julien. “It’s great to have those guys. You know, [David] Krejci losing Backes [bump from right wing to center] had young guys on each side of him [Ryan Spooner and Danton Heinen]. You look at things for what they are . . . no doubt, you’d like to have more balance and I think that will come.’’

Heinen, the rookie winger from the University of Denver, fashioned a hot hand in training camp to secure a spot with the varsity. In the season opener, his stick went quiet, unable to squeeze off a single shot in 11:25 of ice time.

“We didn’t have too much possession time there,’’ said Heinen, whose linemates only landed one shot apiece on net. “But playing with those guys, I’ll just try to keep getting open and try to create something.’’

Once Bergeron is back — perhaps for Thursday’s home opener vs. New Jersey — he’ll pivot Marchand and Pastrnak. Backes then will flip back to Krejci’s right wing, opposite Spooner. Heinen most likely would fall to left wing on the fourth line with partners Dominic Moore and Riley Nash.

Still improving

It could be some time before Krejci, recovering from offseason hip surgery, is back at full strength. The talented pivot logged a healthy 18:50 Thursday vs. the Blue Jackets and won 69 percent of his faceoffs (11 for 16). But even with that possession advantage off the drop, his line managed but two shots on net.

“It’s feeling better and better,’’ said Krejci, asked Friday if his repaired hip was back to 100 percent. “It’s a long recovery. Obviously, you are going to have good and bad days. I felt pretty good on the ice [in Columbus], so hopefully better and better every day.’’

Asked how it felt the morning after the game, Krejci added, “It’s a little different, you get to the hotel [after traveling from Columbus] really late, fall asleep maybe 4 a.m., and then you’ve got to get up again. The body doesn’t get much time to rest. But I didn’t feel bad at all.’’

A center’s roleBackes spent most of his 10 years as a center and was back there for a second time Saturday to face the Leafs. The Bruins expect he’ll spend most of his time at right wing this season, other than spotting Krejci and Bergeron for faceoffs, or perhaps flipping to a defensive center’s role later in games when the Bruins are protecting a lead.

“He’s a really good player,’’ said Krejci. “He knows what to do. He’s studied the game really well and he’s been around a long time. It’s not that much of an adjustment for him. Just be smart. Whether he plays wing or center, he’s still pretty much the same player.’’

Both Krejci and Backes agree center is a more demanding position than wing.

“I’m pretty positive that it’s an easier adjustment to go from center to the wing than the other way around,’’ said Krejci. “As the centerman, you have to control the puck, always be aware of people behind you . . . you know, the X’s and O’s. And there is more conditioning, I would say.’’

Quick recovery

Austin Czarnik made it to the opening-night faceoff despite concerns earlier in the week that he might have suffered a concussion at the tail end of training camp. The 2015 Miami (Ohio) grad said he suffered “one or two’’ concussions during his four years at college.

“I feel really good, said Czarnik, who, at 5 feet 9 inches, is likely more susceptible to getting knocks on the head. ‘’I was definitely a little nervous, you know, with just getting hit in general. But I took a couple of bumps and I was on my way.’’

In college, Czarnik said he was always back on the ice the following week after being concussed.

“It’s been a good recovery for me,’’ he said. “I’ve been fortunate to have a good brain for all that.’’

Kevin Paul Dupont can be reached at kevin.dupont@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @GlobeKPD.