Five minutes after Dutch captain Taeke Taekema had sent the ball flying high into the New Zealand goal with a stunning drag flick from, incredibly, the only penalty corner of the match, the fightback gained momentum from an unlikely quarter.
In his first outing at the tournament after being sidelined through injury, Blair Hilton gathered a sweet ball from Ryan Archibald, took it away from goalkeeper Jacob Stockman and turned to push home.
Two minutes later Kiwi stocks were even higher when non-stop Phil Burrows, just a metre from the goal-line, gathered and smartly pushed the ball under Stockman before turning to celebrate.
At 3-2 down the tempo increased, as did the crescendo from fans who now sensed the killer blow was in the offing.
With four minutes to go, Black Sticks coach Shane McLeod played his ace. He called in heroic goalkeeper Kyle Pontifex and replaced him with an outfield player in the hope of forcing a lop-sided attacking advantage. It could not have been scripted better.
Simon Child, who has enjoyed better days, called for the ball, charged goalwards and set himself for a shot only to see his effort blocked on the line by an errant Dutch foot.
Initially the umpire awarded a penalty corner. Couzins wanted more and called for outside intervention. After an agonising wait, the call was changed and a penalty stroke awarded.
Couzins, the hopes of yet another remarkable comeback riding on his attempt, coolly whipped the ball hard and low to Stockman's left and into the goal.
As bedlam broke out, nerves quickly settled, Pontifex returned and the Black Sticks played out the remaining 2m 36s to claim that vital point and a date with Spain in the second of the top four matches tomorrow.
That it was a repeat of the drama that surrounded the Black Sticks' epic overtime win against Argentina on the same turf almost four years ago was not lost on McLeod and his players.
"It always seems to happen here," said McLeod, who can now contemplate a best-ever Champions Trophy finish.
In 1978 New Zealand finished fourth in the inaugural Champions Trophy but that was only a five-team tournament. This time the reward could be far greater.
New Zealand go into the game with Spain with a carry-over point from yesterday's draw. Spain, who lost to Australia in pool play, go through empty-handed.
Dutch coach Paul Van Ass was quick to compliment McLeod and his players.
"The home crowd played a big part in cheering you home," said Van Ass. "It was good for my players to learn from this. When the pressure came on we got hasty and made stupid decisions and could not hold on."
Taekema, disappointed at the result, also paid tribute to the part the crowd played.
"New Zealand were very fit and strong and with the crowd behind them you saw what happened," Taekema said. "They took the game away from us in the last 20 minutes and played very well."
Couzins paid a heartfelt tribute to Pontifex: "Everyone owes him a few beers. The Dutch were all over us [in the first half] so we owe him a big thank-you that it was only 2-0. That gave us the confidence to go out and do what we did."
TOMORROW
* Pakistan v Korea 12.05pm
* Germany v Great Britain2.05pm
* Netherlands v Australia 4.05pm
* Spain v NEW ZEALAND 6.05pm.
