Buckley's side dominated the contest for three quarters and headed into the final break with a 56-point lead, but the Blues found a belated avenue to goal with the sting out of the game, booting eight of their 10 goals in the last quarter.

The Pies' defence has resembled a casualty ward so far this season, with former skipper Nick Maxwell (back), Clinton Young (corked leg) and Alex Fasolo (toe) joining Nathan Brown on the sidelines this week. 

With 36 games of experience between them, Lachlan Keefe and Jack Frost were once again left to hold down key positions in defence. The duo did their jobs admirably, holding Carlton forwards Levi Casboult and Lachie Henderson to three goals between them, all of which came in the final term. 

Youngsters Marley Williams (23 games), Tom Langdon (seven) and Taylor Adams (35) joined more experienced heads Tyson Goldsack and Heritier Lumumba in a defence that surrendered just two goals in the first three quarters. 

"At three-quarter time, that's a pretty impressive performance," Buckley said after the win.

"When we got to three-quarter time, we'd controlled the game thoroughly. There wasn't one facet of it that we hadn't had on our terms.  We had eight players out there who have played less than 25 games, so they haven't even played a season of football yet. 

"That probably explains a little bit of what you got in the last quarter."

Friday night wasn't the first time the Pies have leaked goals in the final term this season, a similar story unfolding in the round four victory over Richmond, where the Tigers piled on seven goals in the last quarter. 

"It's as simple as we don’t have the experience across our whole group tonight to handle that situation," Buckley said.

"It's another part of our maturation and improvement that we need to attend to if we want to be the team we want to become." 

Langdon, the 63rd pick in last year's NAB AFL Draft, was impressive for the second week in succession. 

The 19-year-old had 23 disposals (10 contested) at 91 per cent efficiency in the win over the Blues, and has been Collingwood's best intercept player in the past two games.

"We've found a player that's still got a lot to learn and will still have his ups and downs, but he's showing us that he's capable at the level," Buckley said.

"He's been passed over, so I think he's got resilience in him and a drive. I don't think he wants to prove people wrong, but he wants to embrace his opportunity and take it with both hands. I think he reads the game particularly well. 

"He's certainly got a long way to go on his journey, but what we've seen at the moment is pretty encouraging."

Buckley also praised the work of Williams, who returned for his first game of the year after avoiding a jail term for grievous bodily harm just 10 days ago. 

"He's got some qualities that we've missed in the early part of the season – speed in the back half for one, just that grunt and drive to put his head over it and drive his legs out of a contest or into a tackle," Buckley said. 

"He impacts every time he's around the ball, so I thought it was a pretty fair game first up."