Of all the defeats the Blues have and will suffer this season, this is the one that will hurt the most.
This was the game where they will feel most intently snatched defeat from the jaws of victory. They had this one. Really had it with 10 minutes to go, but for the third time this season, they couldn't finish off what they started and the score read 28-24 to the Hurricanes.
They will wonder how they so lamely turned the ball over the ball with the Hurricanes line beckoning to then allow, just a few phases later, lumbering lock Mark Abbott to score his second try of the night.
Little moments make all the difference and three painful defeats should surely have hammered that message home to the Blues.
They must surely have learned that if they are camped on their opponent's line the way they were tonight with 10 minutes remaining and a three point lead, they have to score. They have to be ruthless when they apply pressure because the margins at this level are so thin, players such as Beauden Barrett are so good, that they just need one touch to change history.
And while it was Abbott who scored the killer try, it was Barrett who made it with an immaculate chip and chase that split the Blues and had them scrambling. It was one of many ridiculous moments of skill from the world's best player - who did, however, get shown his third yellow card in two games. This time it was for slapping the ball out of Augustine Pulu's hands.
Barrett's time in the bin should really have been the stage in the game where the Blues took control, but it wasn't. It had been tit for tat up until then - score for score.
But in Barrett's absence the Blues seemed to get a little jittery about trying to exploit their numerical advantage.
They were hurried, anxious, forcing things too much as if they felt it would be terrible shameful not to score points in that period.
That tendency to become frantic is proving to be the ill they cannot cure. It has been the root cause of their other defeats and the Blues need to find a way to retain a better emotional equilibrium.
When they were focused, urgent and calm, they showed they can play. That was especially true in the first half hour where they delivered ample periods of good rugby. Those periods included the requisite accuracy and ruthlessness to be converted into points. That mattered. When they did open up the Hurricanes, they made sure to finish it off.
But staying in that mental hot zone is a challenge with which the Blues struggle. Just as happened last week in Dunedin, they went missing at key moments.
They made mistakes at critical times that cost them. A wild pass by Pulu went though the hands of Sonny Bill Williams and sat up for Beauden Barrett - who of course had the gas to go the distance and score under the posts.
From the momentum being with the Blues, it was suddenly with the Hurricanes and all because there wasn't enough attention to detail around a basic play.
There were too many moments like that. Too many poor last passes. Too many occasions where players looked up just before catching the ball only to drop it and too many loose carriers that saw the ball turned over at the contact point.
As the Blues know, getting close is not enough to ease their pain or push them up the table.
RESULTS
Blues 24 (A. Pulu, M. Nanai, S. Scrafton tries; P. Francis 2 cons; B. Gatland pen, con)
Hurricanes 28 (M. Abbott (2), N. Laumape, B. Barrett tries; J. Barrett 4 cons)