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Eric Belanger scored twice, and the Wild rallied to a three-goal second period that was enough to hang on for a 4-3 victory over the Boston Bruins on Saturday night.

Marc Savard had two goals and Phil Kessel also scored for the Bruins, who beat the Colorado Avalanche 5-4 in their opener two nights earlier.

Both of Savard's came in the final 8 1/2 minutes, pulling them within one with 1:38 remaining.

"Ran out of time," coach Claude Julien said.

Boston is coming off a 94-point season and a playoff appearance following consecutive last-place finishes, and with center Patrice Bergeron back there are many reasons to believe in more improvement.

Consider this a lesson learned.

"You got to play three periods of hockey in this league," said Savard, who also had a goal and an assist against Colorado.

Added defenseman Dennis Wideman: "You just can't play a first and a third and beat a team like that."

Fernandez let Belanger's below-the-circle poke slip between his pads on a power play to tie the game at 1 with less than 90 seconds left in the first period. After the first intermission, Bergeron sent a slap shot that beat Fernandez.

This was the first time Fernandez faced the Wild, who acquired him for their inaugural season in 2000 and experienced plenty of ups and downs until trading him to Boston in 2007. This was also Fernandez's first regular-season game in nearly a year, due to a knee injury and subsequent surgery that limited him to four games last October.

"The first and second goal was a good example of what's missing in my game, the sharpness," he said. "Those are two goals that shouldn't go. There's no reason for that, regardless if I get a good look or not."