This derby will not be forgotten any time soon, but what will its lasting impact be on this campaign?
Hibs have had a stop-start season, and who knows what shipping a three-goal lead in this fixture would have done for this team.
The target for Gray and his players now must be consistency, with just two points separating third and fifth.
Hearts were well below their level, but the level of concern that was there for McInnes when his side were three down was significantly reduced by the time they were listening to ‘Sunshine on Leith’.
The return of Craig Halkett, playing alongside Stuart Findlay, meant the leaders had their first-choice centre-back pairing restored for the trip to Leith, but the duo were rocking for spells of a frantic encounter.
The pressure will only ramp up as the months go on, and there is a realistic chance Hearts are second by the time they play again.
But the character they demonstrated in their late rally evidences this title challenge is sustainable, with a favourable run of fixtures on the horizon.