ST KILDA coach Ross Lyon said he was happy to shrug off the slow and low-scoring patterns of its past few outings to kick 19 goals in its win over Carlton at the Telstra Dome last night.

Going into last night, St Kilda had kicked a total of 15 goals in its past two outings — the NAB Cup final win against Adelaide included — earning it a reputation as a team who likes to play a slow, congested brand of football.

But the Saints defied that reputation last night as they overcame a sluggish first quarter to beat Carlton by 40 points.

"Clearly we've been unhappy kicking nine and six goals (in their past two games), and tonight we got a result that is more pleasing," Lyon said after the match.

Even more pleasing to Lyon was the fact their score came through eight goalkickers, and despite the relatively poor returns of two of the team's main forward targets, Justin Koschitzke and Nick Riewoldt, who finished the game with three goals between them.

"I thought it was a strong team effort, I don't think we had a full four-quarter performer, but everyone really chipped in and worked hard to help the team," Lyon said.

Carlton coach Brett Ratten was left to rue the consequence of yet another strong start that failed to carry through, lamenting skill errors that cost his team the match.

"We had 35 ineffective or clanger kicks to 25 at half-time and then we virtually had 20 in the third quarter," Ratten said. "You need to kick the ball pretty well in this game, otherwise teams counter-attack quickly … "

Carlton surrendered an 11-point lead at the first break to go into half-time four goals down.

The Saints then blew the contest apart in the third term, kicking another four goals to none.