Edward Sturing's side won their first two games in Group A of the play-offs but they had to settle for a point on Tuesday.
Vitesse were cruising after 24 minutes as a Nicky Hofs goal had added to an earlier strike from Matthew Amoah.
However, they failed to press home their advantage and were hit by a sucker punch on 26 minutes when Sergio van Dijk reduced the advantage.
Vitesse seemed to weather the storm and looked on course to secure the points when Dennis Schulp popped up in injury time to pinch a point for Helmond.
The other match in Group A saw Sparta Rotterdam pick up their first win when proving too good for VV Venlo.
Second half goals from Rick van den Bergh and Menno Willems were enough for Sparta to take the points.
Heracles have a strong grip on Group B after registering their third straight win, with De Graafschap the side put to the sword on Tuesday.
Goals at the end of each half from Berry Hoogeveen and Richard Roelofsen saw Heracles home.
Volendam look sure to drop out of the top flight after slipping to another defeat, this time at Excelsior.
Mounir El Hamdaoui and Mels Van Driel did the damage for Excelsior and Maarten Woudenberg's effort for Volendam proved nothing more than a consolation.
Results
Helmond Sport 2 - 2 Vitesse Arnhem
VV Venlo 0 - 2 Sparta Rotterdam
Group B
Excelsior Rotterdam 2 - 1 FC Volendam
Heracles Almelo 2 - 0 De Graafschap
