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DALLAS (AP) -- The way Dallas' offense has been struggling, the Stars' victory over Vancouver was a breakthrough.

Bill Guerin scored the tiebreaking goal with 10:09 remaining, and Jason Arnott and Rob DiMaio also had goals for Dallas, which managed only five goals in its previous seven games.

"We made a lot of things go our way with solid play," Guerin said. "The attitude has really changed in the last week. We're more positive and focused on the positives. It's been a long time since we had a two-goal cushion and it felt really good."

Dallas hadn't scored as many as three goals since a 3-1 victory at Minnesota on Nov. 26.

Arnott gave the Stars a rare early lead, scoring his eighth goal 4:23 after the opening faceoff when he beat goalie Dan Cloutier on a deflection.

Dallas, 2-0-1 in its last three games, hadn't had a first-period goal in its previous 10 games.

Overall, the Stars are 2-5-1 in their last eight as they've tumbled into last place in the Pacific Division.

"We're trying to get the players to feel positive about themselves," Stars coach Dave Tippett said. "We've had our struggles. This is a step in the right direction."

Guerin made it 2-1, scoring his 17th goal of the season from low in the right circle off a pass from Pierre Turgeon.

DiMaio extended the lead to 3-1 with 6:52 left when his shot from the left circle glanced off the skate of Vancouver defenseman Brent Sopel and past Cloutier.

Marty Turco made 22 saves for the Stars, and Cloutier stopped 25 shots.

Markus Naslund had a second-period goal for the Canucks, who had played five consecutive overtime games, including a 2-1 victory in Nashville on Tuesday night.

Vancouver had its five-game unbeaten streak snapped (3-0-2).

The Canucks, playing their third game in four nights, have also been in a goal-scoring drought. Vancouver has two goals or less in six of its last seven games.

The Stars had been off since Sunday night and were the stronger team at the end, outshooting the Canucks 7-3 in the final 20 minutes.

"We were playing a fresh team," Vancouver coach Marc Crawford said. "You have to expect they'd be stronger in the third period. But I thought we deserved a better fate tonight.

"They had some lucky bounces. One goal came on a deflection, another one went in off one of our skates. Anyone with any education could see we did some good things tonight. I'm not concerned."

The Canucks tied it at 7:38 of the second period when Naslund skated up the slot and converted Brendan Morrison's centering pass. Naslund's 17th goal made it 1-1.