The three crucial points keep New Zealand on top of the Oceania qualifying group and on track for that winner-takes-all tie against the No.4 team in the Concacaf region.
Coach Ricki Herbert showed his attacking intentions by fielding four strikers and once Michael McGlinchey got the early goal within three minutes, the Canterbury crowd expected the floodgates to open.
The New Zealand strikers seemed to have butchered the chance, but McGlinchey was on the spot to fire home the scraps from the edge of the box for his second goal in an All Whites' shirt.
The tiny midfielder had an outstanding game and was at the centre of all the action, showing Herbert he could become the creative genius New Zealand football teams have been wanting for decades.
Tahiti was unable to hang onto the ball for any length of time but the All Whites seemed to take their foot off the pedal after the early breakthrough.
Despite the pedestrian pace, the sloppy Tahitian defenders continued to offer more opportunities and McGlinchey, Chris Killen, Jeremy Brockie and Kosta Barbarouses would have been disappointed not to add to the first-half score.
The islanders were clearly struggling in the freezing conditions and would have been relieved when two failing light masts triggered a slightly premature end to the first half. The interruption was minimal though, as the lights were back on within the normal half-time break.
Even Ryan Nelsen could have been on the scoreboard in the 20th minute, but Tahiti goalkeeper Gilbert Meriel thwarted the fairytale storyline in the skipper's highly anticipated homecoming match.
Brockie and Ben Sigmund added to the South Island flavour for the first All Whites match in Christchurch since 2006, making up the first Mainland trio in a New Zealand starting lineup since 2008.
More than 10,000 Cantabrians joined the party on a cold Tuesday, outnumbering the 7930 fans at North Harbour stadium for September's international and giving New Zealand football officials some food for thought before awarding the next home qualifier in March.
The All Whites increased the tempo and the pressure after the break and the chances started piling up, only for the wall of Tahitians to frustrate the Kiwi onslaught.
Barbarouses, Marco Rojas and Killen all wasted good opportunities, giving the visitors encouragement to venture forward.
Even the introduction of goal poacher Shane Smeltz did little to ease the crowd's nerves and the All Whites' game looked increasingly desperate and laboured as the match dragged itself to the finish.
Herbert would have been relieved to see Killen tap in a late second goal after keeper Meriel failed to hold onto a Barbarouses' shot.
The hardy fans that had put up with the freezing conditions into injury time got their just rewards when McGlinchey crowned his performance with a wonderful personal second goal.
While New Zealand is dreaming of a third World Cup finals appearance, Tahiti has gone off the boil since their famous and surprising victory in the Oceania Nations Cup in July. Their reputation was not enhanced by a messy melee in the final minutes of the game.
With the Confederations Cup in Brazil less than a year away, their fans must be wondering how they will represent Oceania against the likes of Spain, Uruguay, Mexico or the host nation. Three heavy defeats will be enough for Fifa boss Sepp Blattler to rekindle his favourite campaign and tinker with Oceania's relatively easy route to the World Cup.
New Zealand 3 (Michael McGlinchey 3, 94, Chris Killen 90) Tahiti 0. Crowd: 10,749
- By Coen Lammers in Christchurch
