JAKOB SILFVERBERG scored the winning goal in the Anaheim Ducks’ 3-2 win over Florida on Sunday (Flickr/Bridget Samuels).

By Pete Zarustica

It’s almost certainly a case of too-little, too-late, but a nice finale is better than a flop to the finish line.

The Anaheim Ducks defeated the Florida Panthers 3-2 Sunday night at Honda Center for the team’s seventh win in nine games to improve their record to 30-35-9, worth 69 points. That puts the Ducks in seventh place, just one point out of sixth and two out of fifth.

Jakob Silfverberg broke a 2-2 tie in the third period when he slammed home a shot after getting the puck from Rickard Rakell. That was a team-best 22nd goal for Silfverberg and his fourth goal in five games.

“I think we have been playing pretty good throughout the last three weeks even in these last few games we have had some ups and downs but we have done a really good job making sure that the down periods haven’t been too far,” Silfverberg said.

“Even tonight I don’t think we controlled the whole game but we managed to stay in the game and our lows aren’t too low. We managed to find a way to win and have been playing pretty good lately, we are feeling pretty good about ourselves.”

The other Duck goals were scored by Devin Shore and Adam Henrique. John Gibson had 37 saves in goal for Anaheim.

With eight games left in the season, the Ducks are back in action on Wednesday at 7 p.m. hosting the Winnipeg Jets (42-25-4) and again on Friday hosting the San Jose Sharks.