Gutierrez and Ben Arfa both produced finishes of the highest quality to dump Blackburn out of the competition as the Magpies came from behind to book their place in the fourth round.
But while a 2-1 victory on the back of Wednesday night's 3-0 Premier League triumph over Manchester United maintained the feelgood factor on Tyneside, its significance was perhaps more far-reaching.
The win was achieved without key pair Demba Ba and Cheick Tiote, who were both away on African Nations Cup duty as Sunday newspaper headlines linked them with big-money moves away from the north-east.
Whatever their long-term futures, the Magpies will have to do without them for up to six weeks and in the circumstances, Ben Arfa's emergence from his injury misery represents a major boost.
Gutierrez said: "There was a lot of pressure on him because he has not played as much as he would have wanted.
"He wants to play more, so it was important for his confidence.
"We need all the players now more than ever. We don't have Cheick and Demba, so we need all the players focused, so it is really good for him to get the confidence."
Ben Arfa has been largely restricted to a series of cameo appearances from the bench since finally shaking off the after-effects of the double leg fracture he suffered in October 2010, much to his own very obvious frustration.
However, having been handed his chance by Alan Pardew on Saturday, he emerged from a patchy first-half display to make a huge impact on the game having been switched to the right wing from his initial position just behind striker Leon Best.
Despite enjoying the better of the possession, the Magpies were trailing to David Goodwillie's 35th-minute strike as the contest approached its final 20 minutes, and it was then that Ben Arfa made his move.
Picking up the ball midway inside the Blackburn half, he set off on a mesmeric run which left midfielders and defenders alike trailing in his wake before a final shimmy took him past Martin Olsson and allowed him to blast a close-range shot past keeper Mark Bunn.
Pardew later described the goal as the best he had ever witnessed in person, although Gutierrez, an international colleague of Barcelona superstar Lionel Messi, was more measured when asked to compare the two men.
He said: "Lionel Messi, we know what he does. I don't want to speak about him because he is something different.
"He is one or two steps above other players. Training with him is unbelievable.
"But Hatem has really good skill. Here in the English league, it is more physical and when there is contact, you don't always get the free-kick, so he has to learn about that."
Pardew was delighted to see the France international repay his faith in such spectacular style - the new manager made the loan signing's move permanent in January last year without having seen him kick a ball - and challenged him to reach new heights in the weeks ahead.
He said: "He's had a tough time with that injury, a terrible injury, and we are trying to get the balance right with him.
"He needs to show a little bit more intensity when the opposition have the ball, but if he balances it out with the impact he had in the second half, then he won't need to defend so we won't need to worry about it.
"He was sensational in the second half."
If Ben Arfa claimed the headlines, it was Gutierrez who proved the Magpies' match-winner when in the fifth minute of added time, he exchanged passes with Best and lifted the ball over Bunn.
He said: "Of course I am happy to score, but I enjoyed more that the team won because it is a special competition for us."
