PORT Adelaide coach Ken Hinkley was offering no excuses or qualifications after the Power's club-record winning streak ended with a thud against Carlton.

Port trailed from the start as the Blues belted them by 50 points.

As the Power's streak closed at 13 wins, star onballer Zak Butters also went off in the second half with a sore groin, adding to the seven changes Port made ahead of the match.

Key players Charlie Dixon and Jason Horne-Francis were among the absentees, with Darcy Byrne-Jones also sidelined on Saturday because of concussion.

But as he had done pre-game, Hinkley refused to put much weight on having nearly a third of the team change for Saturday's match.

"I knew that (team changes) would be among the first questions - they're not an issue, they're not part of the problem at all that we had today," he said.

"We didn't turn up to play at the level we have for basically the whole season.

"It wasn't personnel, it was the way we played - and the way we played was not good enough today.

"Today we got beaten badly."

Hinkley was also not interested in talk that after such a long winning streak, this was a loss Port needed to have with the finals six weeks away.

"Every loss is concerning. We haven't had one for a while, that doesn't make it (of) any less importance," he said.

"People will want to look at 'you've won a lot in a row, you needed this loss' - I don't buy into that stuff."

It is unclear whether Butters will recover in time for next week's blockbuster clash with Collingwood, but Byrne-Jones is definitely out because of his concussion.

"It's a very hard game to play if you don't have any movement," Hinkley said of Butters' injury.

Hinkley said there was no single reason why Port did so badly against the Blues.

"There were bits of everything - that's why we got beaten badly," he said.

Spearhead Harry McKay's knee injury was the only blight on Carlton's best win of the season.

After their season appeared shot a month ago, the Blues are now on a four-game burst and they will end round 18 just outside the top eight.

But there will be a nervous wait on the extent of McKay's injury after he hobbled off during the first term.

While coach Michael Voss was confident post-match that it is not a major knee problem, the Blues are also unsure exactly what damage has been done.

"He's hobbling around in the changerooms ... early diagnosis, no (not serious), but we'll wait until we get the scans," Voss said.

The Blues also suffered a setback just before the opening bounce when Matthew Owies was ruled out during the warm-up because of a tight calf.

Enter Jesse Motlop, who came in as the late replacement and starred, kicking four first-half goals.

"It does that to you, doesn't it, when you kick four in the first half. He got lots of little looks - it was pleasing for him to be able to just come in and adapt," Voss said.

"We got on with business.

"The last few weeks, we've actually been playing some really good footy.

"But clearly when you're playing against a side that's won 13 in a row, that's another level."