The Crows surrendered seemingly match-winning leads against Carlton and Port Adelaide in the last fortnight and were challenged again at AAMI Stadium on Saturday night, with the Saints slashing the home side's lead from five goals in the third quarter to just three points early in the final term.
Adelaide panicked in the dying stages of its clash with the Blues last weekend, coughing up an 11-point lead to lose by six points.
However, the club was determined not to repeat the effort in a tense last quarter against the Saints.
The Crows were under siege early in the final term, but in contrast to the games against Carlton and Port Adelaide were able to regain the momentum and kick three unanswered goals to secure an important second win.
Douglas said the team's ability to stand up both mentally and physically in the final quarter against the Saints was "extremely important" in the context of its precariously placed season.
"The last quarter tonight could be the most important quarter of our season," Douglas said.
"We've been in that [winning] position in the last few weeks and fallen over, so to stand up tonight was a real positive.
"It shows we're learning and that there's a bit of resilience in this group. You don't want to keep making the same mistakes and giving up leads and losing games."
Coach Neil Craig challenged his midfield to respond after being soundly beaten in the contested-possession count in the losses to Fremantle, Port Adelaide and Carlton.
Star onballer winner Bernie Vince was dropped from the team this week and Craig also identified Douglas as a player who needed to lift and provide more support for workhorses Scott Thompson and Nathan van Berlo.
The reigning best and fairest winner answered his coach's challenge on Saturday night, finishing with 21 possessions (11 contested), seven tackles, six clearances and two goals to be one of the most influential players on the ground.
"I've probably been a bit down on where I want to be, but you have those patches. You've just got to dig yourself out and I thought I was able to bounce back tonight," Douglas said.
"I thought our midfield really set the tone early with our contested ball and our ball movement was really good. We put the acid on St Kilda early."
The Crows' midfield also had the advantage of playing to a winning ruckman, with ex-Carlton recruit Sam Jacobs dominating the hit-outs and providing a good contest around the ground.
The win puts Adelaide on par with a host of teams on two wins after six rounds.
The club has a chance to claw its way back into the top eight, with winnable games against Melbourne and Gold Coast in the next two weeks.
"Hopefully, we can get another win against Melbourne at the MCG next week and get a bit of momentum going," Douglas said.
"We've got an eight-day break, so it'll be a good chance to freshen up after what was just a really good hard-fought win."
Katrina Gill covers Adelaide news for afl.com.au. Follow her on Twitter: @AFL_KatrinaGill
