Et tu, Tuukka?
Winners of their last four games under the impressive watch of Anton Khudobin in net, the Bruins on Sunday afternoon will give their No. 1 puckstopper, Tuukka Rask, his first start in nearly two weeks in a 5 p.m. Garden matinee vs. the struggling Oilers (1-4-0 in their last five games).
Why? Because coach Bruce Cassidy believes it’s time.
“It’s his turn to go,’’ Cassidy said Saturday following a 40-minute workout in Brighton, which had Rask on the ice 30 minutes early, handling shots from the injured Brad Marchand and David Backes. “We’ve gotten terrific goaltending out of [Khudobin] and we’d like to get terrific goaltending out of Tuukka . . . so everything can be terrific. But, we’ll see.’’
Rask, a substandard 3-7-2 this season, was last seen in net on Nov. 15, a 4-2 loss in Anaheim, after which a frustrated Cassidy said he needed to see better effort and execution from his netminder and his six-man defensive corps. Khudobin and the D corps turned in a much-improved 60 minutes the next night, a 2-1 win at Los Angeles, the start of a run in which the Bruins allowed only seven goals over the four-game winning stretch.
Despite the standard talk-show hysteria, Rask, 30, is still considered the franchise puckstopper. He has been that here since the start of the lockout-abbreviated 2012-13 season, and entered this season having appeared in 293 of the 376 regular-season games (77.9 percent) the past five seasons.
Khudobin’s recent run not only has been good for the club’s win-loss fortunes, but also, in Cassidy’s opinion, as a means of generating competition around the position — something Rask hasn’t felt since sharing the job with Tim Thomas. Cassidy believes Rask now will feel the push Khudobin’s giving him.
“Absolutely,’’ said Cassidy, his club ninth in the East Saturday morning after the 4-3 win Friday afternoon over Pittsburgh. “When you create competition in your lineup, for anybody, I think it makes you better. Then you have difficult decisions to make, and then they become easy if you know you can trust both of them . . . Internal competition, I think, is good for any team in any sport.’’
Rask, fully on board with Khudobin’s recent workload, was not made available to the media after the workout.
Backes progressing
Both Backes and Marchand will remain out Sunday, but their presence in the workout marked a step forward for each. Marchand (injury undisclosed) wore a red “non-contact’’ sweater. Backes, recovering from colon surgery related to his acute bout of diverticulitis, was able to engage in body contact for the first time since surgery.
The original prognosis had Backes out through much, if not all, of December. But he has been encouraged by his progress and sounds like he is eyeing an earlier return.
“Whenever that is, we’ll see,’’ said Backes. “It’s another step . . . you can skate on your own all you want, but real fatigue is when you lean on guys, battle and try to find pucks. But hopefully we’ll be putting on a game jersey here in short order.’’
Players with major setbacks, typically orthopedic in nature, deal with the need to restore range of motion, strength, and flexibility. Backes said much of that is the same for him.
“But being in surgery, you have to make sure tissues are all healed,’’ said Backes, launching into some graphic imagery, “so you’re not busting wide open again . . . the shovels are only so big on the ice . . . if my insides are outside, they are going to need a few more buckets.’’
Just in case
Prior to the start of the 11 a.m. workout, the Bruins announced that they recalled forward Jordan Szwarz from AHL Providence on an emergency basis. They also returned defenseman Rob O’Gara to the WannaB’s.
Szwarz was summoned because winger Peter Cehlarik was felled with a leg injury in the third period vs. the Penguins. He met with doctors during the Saturday practice and his status will be assessed prior to Sunday’s faceoff.
Ryan Spooner did not work out — granted a maintenance day — and he also will be assessed at game time.
Sizing up streak
A few observations regarding the season-high four-game winning streak:
■ The Bruins have outscored the opposition, 11-7, with the goals coming from a chorus of 10 different scorers. Rookie Jake DeBrusk, with strikes against New Jersey and San Jose, was the only repeat scorer in the bunch.
■ Khudobin, a.k.a. “Anton the Rubber Baron,’’ recorded all the wins, limiting opponents to 1.71 goals per game and stopping 94.5 percent of the shots he faced.
■ The Bruins led in the four games by a collective time of 205:41 and trailed for only 1:27 (during the first period in San Jose). Average lead time: 51:25 per game.
■ Of their 11 goals, nine involved players with NCAA playing experience. Four were scored by ex-NCAAers: Charlie McAvoy (BU), Danton Heinen (Denver), Sean Kuraly (Miami of Ohio), and Matt Grzelcyk (BU).
■ The Bruins held two-goal leads in three of the four games. Prior to Friday’s action, clubs able to amass a two-goal lead in games this season were a collective 244-13-19, garnering an astounding .918 point rate.
■ The 20 shots recorded by the Penguins Friday marked a team low for 2017-18. It was also the stingiest the Bruins have been this season.
■ The Bruins went 0 for 10 on the power play during the four victories.
Kevin Paul Dupont can be reached at kevin.dupont @globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @GlobeKPD.
