VANCOUVER – The Vancouver Canucks’ game got a lot better Thursday, but their record got a little worse.

With their season already precarious and the need for points increasingly desperate, no one was taking victory laps because the Canucks played one of their best games this National Hockey League season, outplaying the powerful Dallas Stars through two periods but still losing 4-2 after a pair of late goals from the visitors.

With their speed, forecheck, defensive zone and connectedness profoundly better than in Vancouver’s just-completed three-game Eastern trip against Stanley Cup contenders, when the Canucks were outshot 109-50, the team deserved better against the Stars.

But the Canucks probably deserved worse than the three out of six points they harvested against Carolina, Tampa a

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