Adelaide survived a late St Kilda raid to post a tenacious 19-point AFL victory on Saturday night.

The Crows logged a 13.12 (90) to 9.17 (71) win at AAMI Stadium, where Kurt Tippett was a game breaker with four goals.

St Kilda captain Nick Riewoldt was knocked out on a grim night for last year's beaten grand finalist, who remain on just one win for the season.

Riewoldt was concussed in a legal collision with Graham Johncock's shoulder in the third quarter, which coincided with a revival by his team.

The Saints trailed by a game-high 36 points 10 minutes into the second stanza as Adelaide's Tippett dominated.

He kicked three goals in the opening term as the Crows raced to a 4.3 to 0.6 quarter-time lead.

Tippett nailed three early set-shot majors and, in the last term, put the nail in St Kilda's coffin with the last goal of the game.

He was an ever-present aerial threat, while the Saints missed a series of achievable shots throughout their night, the culprits including Adam Schneider, Sam Gilbert and Riewoldt.

The Crows lost defender Phil Davis to another shoulder injury in the second quarter.

The key backman dislocated his right shoulder in the opening minute of the second quarter, on return from a two-game absence with an injury to the same joint.

Adelaide led 6.9 (45) to 1.9 (15) at halftime, before the Saints clawed their way back into the contest with a fighting third term.

St Kilda, with Stephen Milne finding space and two goals, kicked 5.3 to Adelaide's 2.1 in a game-changing quarter to trail by 10 points at the last change.

And when first-gamer Jamie Cripps booted his second major and the initial goal of the last term, the Saints trailed by just three points.

But Crow half-forward Chris Knights stunned St Kilda, snaring two goals in 60 seconds to return Adelaide to an ascendancy never relinquished on the way to their second triumph of the year.

Adelaide coach Neil Craig lauded the effort of his charges, noting nine of them have played less than 20 games.

"It was great experience for them," he said.

"We were very good defensively tonight, we disrupted St Kilda's ball movement."

The injured Davis will have scans to determine whether he needs a season-ending shoulder reconstruction.

St Kilda coach Ross Lyon lamented his side's sluggish first half, when beaten in contested situations and on the scoreboard.

"You can't deliver what we did in the first half and expect to win games, particularly interstate," Lyon said.

"The response after halftime was more in keeping with expectations ... but from there you have to do everything right to give a five goal start."

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