Melbourne forward Sam Weideman has slotted three goals in a 51-point hammering of winless Adelaide in Wednesday night's AFL match.
The Demons responded to a week in the AFL furnace with a 13.10 (88) to 5.7 (37) victory at Adelaide Oval - they're now just one win shy of seventh spot.
After being labelled insipid by club chairman Glen Bartlett after last Thursday night's loss to Port Adelaide, the Demons produced a powerhouse seven-goal last term against the hapless Crows.
"It's good to play some solid footy," Melbourne coach Simon Goodwin said.
"Adelaide brought a lot of heat early and it was one of those games that was going to be in the balance for a long period.
"And to our guys' credit, they fought it out and as the game went on it started to open up a bit for us."
Adelaide's club-record losing streak extends to 13 games, spread over more than a calendar year.
"We put out three high-quality quarters of contested ball against a very good contested ball team and we ran out of gas," Crows coach Matthew Nicks said.
"We were off a four-day break, that is challening for all teams."
Melbourne are now 12th on the ladder, with spearhead Weideman's haul supported by two goals each to Luke Jackson, Jake Melksham, Bayley Fritsch and Jack Viney.
Halfback Christian Salem was superb with 26 disposals, Viney (22 touches) and Clayton Oliver (34 possessions, one goal) were midfield forces and ex-Crow Jake Lever and Steven May ruled in defence.
Adelaide made nine changes after a humiliating 69-point loss to fellow strugglers North Melbourne last weekend - eight at the selection table and Brodie Smith (knee) was a late scratching.
But the Crows again had few winners - winger Paul Seedsman booted two goals, halfback Luke Brown (20 disposals) was solid and on-baller Matt Crouch collected a team-high 27 touches with limited impact.
Adelaide trailed by four points after an opening quarter punctuated by a sling tackle from Melbourne's Alex Neal-Bullen which concussed Crows defender Will Hamill just 13 minutes into the game.
Hamill's head hit the ground with force and he didn't feature again in the match, with Neal-Bullen facing certain sanction from the match review officer.
The Demons led by five points at halftime and were only 12 up at the last change.
But the visitors steamrolled to victory with seven goals in a 21-minute scoring spree against meek resistance - the Crows mustered just one major in the second half.
The Demons meet North Melbourne on Sunday night at Adelaide Oval while the same venue will host the Crows' clash with Collingwood on Tuesday night.
Australian Associated Press
