The home team won 29-12 thanks to a wealth of possession which in the end led to a comfortable victory.
It was halfback TJ Perenara's 100th game for the Wellington-based franchise and that gave the side ample motivation to win the game easily.
The Hurricanes had all the ball and the Highlanders were forced to live off scraps.
The Highlanders tied it up 12-12 just after the break but never fired a shot after that.
The first half was a fairly drab affair with the home team going into the sheds after 40 minutes ahead 12-5.
The rain - it is Wellington after all - made the ball slippery and there were plenty of handling errors.
Throw in some loose ruling on offside play which gave players little room to move and line breaks were few and far between in the entire match.
The opening score came from the Hurricanes though it could have gone the other way.
Beauden Barrett picked up a chip kick from the HIghlanders and ran 60m to score. It could have easily been picked up by a Highlander but Barrett showed good skills to score the first try after six minutes.
The Highlanders got on the board halfway through the first half when their forwards charged at the line. The ball was then shifted to the right and Waisake Naholo strolled over unmarked.
Lima Sopoaga missed the conversion and that was the last the Highlanders saw of the ball for a lengthy period.
In-form Hurricanes winger Ben Lam scored for his side in the corner with three minutes left in the first half after some sustained build-up by the forwards.
Hurricanes 29 (Ben Lam 2, Beauden Barrett, Vince Aso tries; Barrett 3 con; Jordie Barrett pen) Highlanders 12 (Waisake Naholo 2 tries; Lima Sopoaga con) Halftime: 12-5 Hurricanes