Port Adelaide has kept its top-four hopes alive with a percentage-boosting 103-point annihilation of Carlton at Adelaide Oval on Friday night.
The Power kicked 10 unanswered goals either side of half time in the 20.20 (140) to 5.7 (37) demolition, with its 14th victory of the season seeing it temporarily leapfrog Fremantle on the ladder into fourth spot.
The home side increased its percentage from 126.5 to 132.4 with the win, which could prove crucial ahead of its final-round clash with Fremantle next weekend.
The 14-6 Dockers have a percentage of 128.8, and meet the Brisbane Lions at the Gabba on Sunday afternoon.
The match was played in front of the largest home-and-away crowd in Port Adelaide's history, with 52,505 fans packing into Adelaide Oval on a balmy night in the South Australian capital.
Robbie Gray (31 possessions and four goals) and Chad Wingard (19 possessions and three goals) did the damage for the Power when the match was briefly a contest in the first half, while Justin Westhoff added three goals.
Carlton, which had been competitive in recent losses against top-four aspirants Fremantle and Geelong, were comprehensively out-classed by a ruthless Power outfit, which conceded a solitary goal in each of the first three quarters.
The Blues came to Adelaide confident after pushing Geelong to the brink last week and with five wins in their last six visits to the city, but fell to 7-14 for the season with their heaviest defeat of the year.
Carlton's dark night was compounded by an injury to Marc Murphy.
The Blues' captain was substituted out of the game midway through the second term after sliding to take a mark in the middle of the ground and banging his head hard into the turf as Port's Cam O'Shea dived in to contest the ball.
Earlier, the Power set up their match-winning lead with a superb second quarter, holding Carlton goalless after the opening minute of the term and racing to a 50-point lead at the main break, a margin that could have been much more but for their errant goal-kicking.
Gray was everywhere for the Power in the first half with 16 possessions and two goals, while Wingard also ran riot as Carlton spent much of the term pinned deep in its defensive 50.
The Power kicked eight of their nine first-half goals from Carlton turnovers, as the Blues withered under the heat brought by a rampant Port defensive effort.
PORT ADELAIDE 5.6 9.12 16.15 20.20 (140)
CARLTON 1.2 2.4 3.7 5.7 (37)
GOALS
Port Adelaide: Neade 3, Westhoff 3, Gray 3, Schulz 2, Wingard 2, Ebert, Boak, White, Monfries
Carlton: Waite, Gibbs, White, Casboult, Yarran
BEST
Port Adelaide: Gray, Boak, Wingard, Hartlett, Westhoff, Carlile
Carlton: Gibbs, Wood, Rowe, Judd, Carrazzo
INJURIES
Port Adelaide: Schulz (concussion)
Carlton: Murphy (concussion)
SUBSTITUTES
Port Adelaide: Matt White replaced by Andrew Moore in the third quarter
Carlton: Marc Murphy replaced by Kane Lucas in the second quarter
Umpires: Margetts, Nicholls, Schmitt
Official crowd: 52,505 at Adelaide Oval
