Coach Michael Voss has called Carlton's 31-point triumph over Fremantle as a "signature win" and their finest of the AFL season.
The Blues belied their decimated defence and conceding the first three goals to claim a 12.9 (81) to 7.8 (50) victory at Marvel Stadium and remain in touch with the top four.
It was a drastic turnaround from their 35-point loss to the Dockers in round six and Voss said that underlined Carlton's humility and ability to learn from the defeat.
"It was, I think, our best performance, clearly, for the year," Voss said.
"It was a signature win. If you want to get belief, that was one of them, for sure.
"Because we've had moments where we've been on and off and we haven't been able to get a four-quarter performance.
"It wasn't just against any side, it was against second on the ladder, so they test you in every way and we got an audit on our system last time that we played them.
"It was a signature win and it was the best win we've had for a number of reasons."
Carlton were without a plethora of defenders and reduced to using Lewis Young and youngster Brodie Kemp in key posts.
But the Blues' defence were rarely pressured as their midfield smashed second-placed Fremantle in clearances (44-30) and inside-50s (64-40).
The brilliant Sam Walsh (40 disposals, 11 inside-50s), Patrick Cripps and George Hewett were a force around stoppages.
"(Walsh's) game was amazing, he just took it to a completely new level today and challenged them on all fronts," Voss said of Walsh.
"He certainly had a game out of the box, that's for sure, but fortunately he had a few mates with him at the same time."
Charlie Curnow fought past Griffin Logue to boot four goals while Harry McKay, Matthew Cottrell and Lochie O'Brien kicked two apiece.
Will Brodie (36 disposals) and James Aish (23 touches) impressed for Fremantle while Alex Pearce put the clamps on McKay.
Nat Fyfe cut a frustrated figure and is likely to come under scrutiny from the match review officer for making contact with umpire Robert O'Gorman after being pushed by Cottrell.
Carlton struggled to break down Fremantle's organised defence early and trailed by nine at quarter-time.
From Carlton seized full control and their weight of inside-50 numbers won out, as they dominated bar a brief period in the third quarter.
"We got beaten around the ball. That was an all-day thing," coach Justin Longmuir said.
"Apart from probably 15 minutes in the third quarter we lost the field position battle and largely they were in control of the game."
The Blues expect to regain Adam Cerra (hamstring) against St Kilda next week but Jacob Weitering (shoulder) is only a "small chance" to return.
Matt Owies (calf tightness) was a late withdrawal, replaced by Jesse Owens after the warm-up, while Jordan Boyd (ankle) was substituted off for Will Setterfield late in the game.
Voss was optimistic both players would pull up well.
