Hawthorn's Jack Gunston kicked four goals and teammate Luke Breust missed an AFL record by centimetres in a 12-point victory over the Adelaide Crows on Friday night.

The Hawks reclaimed top spot of the ladder heading into the weekend round with a 15.14 (104) to 14.8 (92) win at Adelaide Oval.

Breust equalled Tony Lockett's record for consecutive goals without a miss - 29 straight - as the Hawks banked a 12th win of the year.

But he was bizarrely robbed of a chance to shoot for the record nearing the end of the third quarter.

Breust was positioned to snap at goal when umpire Ray Chamberlain halted play, mistakenly believing he'd heard a siren.

The Hawks half-forward then muffed a chance to claim the record in the last quarter, narrowly missing a 45-metre set shot.

The sharpshooter soon added his third in a slick away triumph largely built by on-ball exploits of Sam Mitchell (28 disposals), captain Luke Hodge (25 possessions) and Jordan Lewis (25 touches).

Gunston added the scoring polish, kicking three in the first term, including one after a spectacular leap.

The ex-Crow sailed on the shoulders of teammate Breust and Adelaide's Luke Brown, hanging for a spectacular grab.

Gunston's early onslaught helped the Hawks take a 20-point lead some 20 minutes into the game to silence the 50,321-strong Adelaide crowd.

The Crows challenged in the third term: when Josh Jenkins kicked the fifth goal of his dominant display, the home side were steaming and just five points down.

But Hawthorn, with Gunston and Breust striking, scored the next three vital goals to take a 17-point break into the last quarter.

Breust soon slotted his third early in the last before teammate Jonathon Ceglar (two goals) goaled to leave Adelaide's season in the balance with eight wins and losses.

Adelaide's Jenkins was a home-town standout, his attacking ally James Podsiadly (two goals) was prominent, and midfielders Rory Sloane and Patrick Dangerfield were busy.

Hawthorn coach Alastair Clarkson praised the spirit of his players.

"We were really disappointed with the way we performed last week on a whole number of fronts ... tonight we were ready for the assault," he said.

"We got a good start and put some scoreboard pressure on."

Adelaide midfielder Scott Thompson, who entered the game with a suspect left hamstring, suffered back-related pain to his right hamstring and Jenkins rolled an ankle.

"The forwards looked pretty dangerous but we just couldn't get the ball there often enough," Crows coach Brenton Sanderson said.