In front of a sell-out crowd of 50,627, the Pies were gallant for three and-a-bit quarters, trailing by five points at the last change before their brave challenge ended in the final term.
The 12.22 (94) to 9.11 (65) loss leaves the club with a 5-10 win-loss record and no margin for error regarding finals.
While Malthouse didn't expect to concede the match with a five-goal-to-two final term, he paid tribute to Geelong.
"It's very hard to lay blame at any players. As I said to them after the game, it's no use jumping up and down and pointing fingers," Malthouse said after the match.
"They were beaten by better players. I don't think any of our players didn't try their hardest. Some under those conditions played reasonably well, others were patchy but Geelong were terrific."
"I'm disappointed we lost but… Anthony Rocca had a bad day, Anthony Rocca tries his hardest all the time. I thought Scott Burns had a poor day but Scott Burns tries his hardest all the time."
Better players for the Pies included skipper Nathan Buckley, who had 25 possessions, and midfield team mates Tarkyn Lockyer (25 touches also) and Alan Didak (21).
Also, Buckley, Lockyer and Chris Tarrant all kicked two goals.
Malthouse thought in the last seven weeks the Magpies were approaching somewhere near the level that was required to be a participant in the finals series.
But he was left to lament the team's poor start to the season, where the middle-ranking players who were asked to stand up in the absence of their more experienced colleagues failed to do so.
"I don't think that we had the players to take over the roles of senior, more experienced players who weren't available."
"Those players, those next-layer-down players, they were thrust into that role and I expected more from them and I don't think they performed."
"That's why it's important over the next seven weeks… their chance is now to stand up."
"It was bad luck that we lost players, but we didn't play well. We've got ourselves to blame with being 5-10."
The first half produced the sort of footy that the Magpies just love to play; tight, in-close and with plenty of stoppages. At its conclusion, it had yielded them a slender three-point advantage.
There was little to separate the teams in the second half either, with Geelong edging out to an eight-point advantage midway through a third term that produced only three goals.
There was hardly a moment of respite, with scores level at quarter time and the margin not entering double figures until well into the final term.
It was a fiercely-contested affair with neither team able to decisively break free until Geelong did so at the end.
Collingwood, with it season in the line, played exceptionally hard football for three and a bit quarters before the Cats broke a way in the final term.
The Magpies host reigning triple-premiers the Brisbane Lions next week at the MCG.
Collingwood: 3.2 6.6 7.9 9.11 (65)
Geelong: 3.2 5.9 7.14 12.22 (94)
Goals: Collingwood: Buckley, Tarrant, Lockyer 2, Didak, Licuria, Rocca 1
Geelong: Graham, Chapman, King 2, Corey, Ling, Kingsley, Ablett, Bartel, Callan 1
Best: Collingwood: Clement, Lockyer, Buckley, Didak, Tarrant
Geelong: Scarlett, Ablett, Bartel, Ling, Corey, Chapman, King, Johnson
Injuries: Collingwood: Didak (suspected fractured jaw)
Geelong: None
Changes: None
Reports: None
Umpires: James, McInerney, McLaren
Crowd: 50,627 at Telstra Dome (sell-out)
