They were battered and bruised but Rob Edwards' Luton showed once again that they never know when they are beaten.
Slipping towards a defeat that would have widened the chasm between them and the rest of the pack in and around the relegation zone, there was to be one final twist in their favour.
It was Cauley Woodrow, deep into stoppage time, who rescued the point for Luton.
One that stopped a rot of three successive league defeats and proved this fight for survival has a few rounds to run yet still.
That equaliser, as late as it came, was coming. Palace invited on pressure after Jean-Philippe Mateta gave them an early lead and were made to pay for a series of missed opportunities to put the game out of sight.
But it was the visitors who snatched it late on with their 16th goal in the final 15 minutes of games this season, a tally only bettered by Liverpool.
The masters of late drama but Edwards side could do with making life a little easier for themselves. Alfie Doughty’s poor back pass lacked conviction and allowed Daniel Munoz to steam onto the ball down the right. Luton goalkeeper Thomas Kaminski did his best to narrow the angle but to no avail as Munoz rounded him before crossing to Mateta, whose dainty flick proved to be the touch of class Palace needed to put them ahead.
The visitors were on the ropes and Tyrick Mitchell almost landed the knock-out blow that would have ended the contest before it even got going. Teden Mengi managed to swoop and clear the ball from the toes of Mitchell after he snuck in at the far post.
But Luton were too often the architects of their own downfall. This time it was Jordan Clark with the bad back pass, this time intercepted by Mateta.
The big forward was only able to hit the side netting as he went in search of his third goal in as many games.
It looked as though the only thing that would cost Palace was their lack of cutting edge in finding a second. Eberechi Eze and Jordan Ayew both went close but Luton continued to send out warning signals.
Chiedozie Ogbene failed to hit the target with his header from six yards before Morris volleyed straight into the hands of Sam Johnstone.
Again Palace failed to heed that warning. Mateta was denied from close range brilliuantly by the feet of Thomas Kaminski in the Luton goal before Naouirou Ahamada smashed his follow-up effort wide.
Eze almost secured the win with a moment of brilliance but his attempted lob from almost the half-way line landed on the roof of Kaminski’s net.
Luton threw on former Palace man Andros Townsend in search of an equaliser and both sides continued to trade blows with Ogbene hitting the bar at one end and Edouard the other.
Palace fans were far from impressed at referee Sunny Singh Gill - who became the first British South Asian to manage a Premier League game - allowing the game to run on as late as he did.
But only a few weeks on from his late winner against Everton, there was Woodrow, popping up on the end of a Townsend cross to snatch the most unlikely of points.