In a passionate sports town like Boston, social media and sports radio scrutiny is embodied into the city’s DNA. Some critiques are justified, others aren’t.

Tuukka Rask is a perfect example of both ends of the critiques. Take for example last Thursday against the Lightning where he allowed five goals on 28 shots in arguably one of his worst performances of the season. Two days later, he would miss the B’s pivotal game in Brooklyn against the Islanders due to a lower-body injury.

Those two aforementioned events magnified the scrutiny from some of Rask’s detractors. Fairly or unfairly, Rask became one of the more polarizing figures in recent Bruins memory thanks to the outside noise.

In three games this week, the 2014 Vezina winner quieted those critics one game at a time. From his timely stops against the Predators on Tuesday night and again against the Panthers on Saturday – both mainly coming in the second and third periods – to notching his seventh shutout of the season against the Stars on Thursday, Rask let his play do the talking.

On Saturday afternoon, in a game where the Bruins were hardly their sharpest, Rask backstopped the Bruins to another victory. His 13 third period stops, including a diving highlight-reel save on Jonathan Huberdeau’s wrap-around attempt with a little over four minutes left in regulation, that kept the B’s slim one-goal lead intact.

Moments after Rask’s stop on Huberdeau, Brad Marchand notched his 39th of the season with a power play goal and Patrice Bergeron added his 20th of the season – and second of the game – to secure Boston’s 5-2 victory.

“It’s never easy and we needed those points badly,” Rask said after notching his 36th win of the season to a tie a career high that he set in 2013-14. “I’m glad that we stuck with it.”

“They certainly came with the intent to get the tying goal and they pushed hard, and we bent certainly but didn’t break,” said interim head coach Bruce Cassidy, who constructively critiqued Rask following the loss to the Lightning 10 days ago. “Tuukka made some good stops, and we were certainly able to limit their second chance opportunities.”

While his defense has cleaned up rebounds and blocking shots to limit those second chance opportunities, Rask is making the most of his own opportunity to block the noise from the outside.

What some of the angry callers and Twitter trolls fail to realize in their critiques is the Bruins may not even be in position to make the postseason without Rask. In a three-month span where the Bruins A) struggled offensively and B) couldn’t rely on any backup goaltender from October to December, Rask was playing his best hockey of the season and entered the discussion as one of the earlier Vezina candidates. As a result, his workload has been hefty as Saturday marked his 61st start of the campaign.

There’s no denying that Rask saw his share of inconsistencies at a time when the offense started lighting the lamp on a more consistent basis, especially under Cassidy. The play of Anton Khudobin since his recent call up from Providence – particularly after the Islanders victory – drove some of Rask’s critics to even promote a goaltender controversy.

Well, after a few performances, Rask is back on track. Inside the locker room, the Bruins never wavered their support of their No. 1 netminder.

“He’s been very important to us all year, and I can’t just say it’s over the past few games,” defenseman Brandon Carlo said about Rask. “You know, we definitely have a lot of confidence with him behind us, and we know that he’s going to get those big saves for us. And as long as we limit the opportunities [in our end], the rest he can handle.”

With the Bruins leaving for Chicago immediately, Rask will get an extra day of rest as Khudobin gets the nod against the Blackhawks in front of a nationally televised audience.

But not before a vote of confidence from Rask.

“The rest is a big factor at this point of the year,” Rask said. “Doby [Khudobin] is going to step up tomorrow and play a great game against Chicago.”

Khudobin and the Bruins need to be at their best tomorrow to steal two points in the ‘Windy City.’

The following week, Rask and the Bruins will need to be at their best with their final three games against the Lightning, Senators and Capitals all at TD Garden. Their playoff lives depend on it.