The Setanta cameras rolled into the Highland capital for the broadcaster's third instalment of live top-flight Scottish football on a Monday night.
Both teams went into the game in a positive frame of mind, knowing that a win would see them go joint second alongside Hearts, thanks to the weekend's results.
History was not on the side of the hosts, with Inverness never having beaten the Dons in a competitive match, although this was written off by the players who knew that they have come close to beating their rivals on more than one occasion.
It was the second Monday match in a row for Jimmy Calderwood's Reds, and they were on a high after turning on the style to beat Hibs with a last-gasp winner the previous week.
The first chance of the match fell to Barry Wilson from a free-kick but he flashed his drive past the left post. After 20 minutes, Gary Dempsey cracked a low 25-yard shot past Mark Brown's right post from in Aberdeen's first real goal threat.
This was immediately followed by a long-range tester from Craig Dargo which flew just wide to get the home fans on their feet.
The Dons whipped in a couple of tricky crosses as they searched for the advantage, but could not add a killer touch. On 37 minutes, the first save was made when Jamie Langfield got down well to deal with a John Rankin shot after the midfielder had cut inside.
Just after the break, Chris Clark drove a shot across the face of the goal as Aberdeen began brightly in the opening moments.
On 64 minutes, Dargo forced a decent save from Langfield after an intelligent cut-back from Wilson.
With Aberdeen on top at this point, Caley Thistle stole into the lead with 12 minutes to go. After a dreadful clearance from Langfield, Roy McBain found space on the left and his cross was headed home by Graham Bayne.
But then a period of real drama followed as both sides went for the next goal. Steve Lovell returned from a long injury lay-off in the 80th minute, and soon after he cracked the crossbar wih a sensational overhead kick.
The Aberdeen leveller came in the final minute when Michael Hart's delivery was finished by Lovell at close range after Lee Miller had got the initial touch.