“Tough call, eh?”

Those were the three words stated by Claude Julien when I asked him about whether or not Anton Khudobin will be the starter in Thursday’s game against his former team, the Anaheim Ducks.

In theory, the decision seemed easy enough in context for Julien. On the second game of another back-to-back and the second straight week of three in four days, Khudobin got his turn to spell Tuukka Rask, who was coming off an overtime appearance from the night before in Pittsburgh.

One night after their 4-3 loss to the Penguins in the 3-on-3 extra session, the Bruins needed Khudobin to stand tall against a team that sent him down to the minors after struggling between the pipes. The motivation for a good night for Khudobin was there. The performance, even with a couple of decent stops at the start, was not.

Surely, the blame can’t go entirely on Khudobin in the Bruins’ third straight loss at TD Garden. Missed assignments and defensive breakdowns also proved costly against a physical and up-tempo Ducks squad. But it bears wondering how much faith the Bruins have when a goaltender other than Rask gets the start between the pipes.

At least in front of the cameras and recorders around their stalls in the locker room, the Bruins still have faith in Khudobin.

“We believe in every single guy, you know. It’s just, like I said, tough break,” David Krejci said following the 4-3 loss to the Ducks, a game in which the Bruins spotted Khudobin a 2-0 lead.

“First goal was all me. Everyone had their guy, I just couldn’t put the stick on it, tried to clear it, but things are going to happen. Dobby had zero chance on that, and, you know, I felt like we should have done a little better job in front of him. They had always two guys crashing the net, and they got a couple bad goals, so we’ve got to do better job at this and help him out a little bit better.”

Though he felt prepared Khudobin shared the responsibility in a quotable deemed not safe for work.

“Yeah, I felt good. I thought the first period was pretty good. The second, a couple of unlucky bounces. The third goal went through my five-hole, went behind, and then came back. Cluster[expletive],” Khudobin bluntly said after making 23 saves on 27 shots.

Of the three other goalies to have started a game, only one came away with a victory. Khudobin did that two weeks ago in his best performance of the season during the B’s 2-1 victory over another one of his former teams, the Carolina Hurricanes.

In his two starts since Khudobin allowed four goals in each appearance. A once reliable Bruins backup during the 2013 lockout-shortened season, Khudobin is now 1-5-0 in six starts to go along with a 3.20 goals against average and .882 save percentage.

Knowing that his name isn’t called as frequently, Khudobin expressed his own personal disappointment on how his season has fared so far.

“Yeah, it is. It’s tough when you’re playing once in a while,” said the 30-year-old Bruins backup. “You want to get a bright result, but, I didn’t get it, again. So, really, just more probably angry than disappointed.”

As the Bruins soldier on through the 2016-17 season, solving the backup goaltending issue will have to come from within. With the jury all but decided on Malcolm Subban’s future in Boston, the only viable option aside from Khudobin is Zane McIntyre. In his first two career starts with the Black and Gold before being sent back down to Providence, the former North Dakota standout looked fairly good despite losses against the Rangers and Canadiens.

With fewer options on the market and the need for a backup goaltender not as prevalent around the NHL compared to addressing other issues like goal scoring or defense, the Bruins will have their hands tied externally.

Knowing this, it’s up to Khudobin to improve his daily routine with the help of the coaching staff.

“Go in for the practice, talk to Coach Goalie Bob [Essensa], see what we can do better, and keep moving forward. Nothing can kill me right now,” Khudobin said. “Obviously, it’s disappointing. I’m not really happy, but, I’m not going to put my head down and say that I’m done.”