David Schlemko's goal at 8:38 of the second period in Game 5 on Thursday was not the dagger the Sharks intended it to be.
Down 3-1 with half a game left, the Oilers bench was composed. Instead of folding their hand, the team rallied to overcome the two-goal deficit.
"It was pretty calm," said Mark Letestu. "I think everybody realized we were playing a pretty good hockey game at the time, the score just didn't indicate the results we were looking for."
The effort was there. Edmonton checked hard, won faceoffs, got convenient saves and created scoring opportunities. If they kept it up, the game was bound to go their way.
"We felt like if we stuck with that kind of intensity, those details, the way we were skating, it was eventually going to go in our favour," said Letestu. "We might have to use all 60 minutes but the bench, for the most part, stuck with it."
The Rogers Place crowd even had a hand in energizing the club.
"The fans stayed in the game and helped us out. It was a really calm influence on the bench."
BLOG: Composed Oilers prevail
The Oilers bench stayed calm when the team was down 3-1 in Game 5 to help prompt the comeback
