"There was a calmness on our bench," McLellan said of Game 5. "We tried to fix some things and we think we did but we were still down. There was no need to wander from the game plan, to turn into individuals and try to do it on your own.
"We stuck with it. That doesn't happen overnight. That evolves over time. We're slowly growing as a team and in that mental capacity as well, to stick with things and to have a little resilience, to understand you're given 60 minutes and a lot of nights you have to use all 60."
And while he has been "hammering" on the subject regularly, McLellan said he's taking no credit for the progress.
"It tends to be more powerful … when the players can take over the team, when the players take over situations and provide that leadership and calmness," he said. "That's coming from them now - they understand they can and will do things the right way."
Now the Oilers are not concerned with bouncing back, but bouncing higher, in Game 6 on the road.
"It's a really difficult game [Saturday]," Letestu said. "We're going to need everybody, and probably a little bit more."