Thelo Aasgaard (left) wasted two excellent chances for Luton in a one-sided first half at Kenilworth Road
Improving Luton Town failed to make their dominance count as wayward finishing and inspired goalkeeping by Mark Travers earned Middlesbrough a draw at Kenilworth Road.
A Hatters side chasing a third win in four following a miserable 12-game winless run seized control from the outset and could have been out of sight by the break.
But Travers made a number of outstanding saves - notably from Thelo Aasgaard - to keep play-off hopefuls Boro in with a chance of a fourth victory in five after a run of five consecutive losses threatened to derail their season.
The Teesiders, who remain three points adrift of the top six, did have the majority of possession throughout, and did at least offer some goal threat in the second half, but Michael Carrick's side did not manage a shot on target and had just seven attempts in total.
Impressive away victories for Luton's fellow strugglers Derby County and Cardiff City means Matt Bloomfield's side are now three points from safety, despite their encouraging performance.
An up-tempo and confident Hatters were on top from the off, creating and missing five early chances.
Liam Walsh twice went close and Aasgaard wasted the first of two wonderful opportunities to come his way when he smashed a shot over from close range after great work by Elijah Adebayo.
And the Norwegian midfielder, eyeing a second goal in two games having found the net in the away win at Cardiff, then somehow managed to shoot straight at keeper Travers following a fine cross from Alfie Doughty.
The home dominance continued for the rest of the half with chances aplenty either side of Boro's only attempt, a blocked strike from Delano Burgzorg.
Walsh, Adebayo and Carlton Morris, twice, had left-foot strikes saved by Travers, while Christ Makosso's finishing was wayward when he should have done better.
Luton kept their grip on the game after the resumption, playing with greater energy and looking sharper in the tackle.
McGuiness and Morris both got their radar wrong with headers, and Lasse Nordas also got his angles wrong in front of goal.
At the other end, Boro's sporadic attacks produced no more than half-chances, the best of which saw Finn Azaz shoot wide from distance after a delightful turn.
Luton Town boss Matt Bloomfield told BBC Three Counties Radio: "The performance was excellent. Some of the football we played and the chance creation was fantastic.
"I am very proud of the performance and we need to understand the quality of the opposition we played and how we have dominated the game.
"We came out of the traps quick. We played our formation incredibly well. Tactically the boys were spot on and they implemented what we discussed.
"There were top performances out there. We created chance after chance and played some very good football. It's incredibly frustrating we didn't take one.
"Defensively we were excellent. We limited Middlesbrough to very little and they are as good as we will play in the league. If we carry on playing like that we will pick up plenty of points."
Middlesbrough boss Michael Carrick told BBC Radio Tees: "It wasn't a classic in terms of quality of football. We knew that coming here there would be moments we had to defend. We knew we had to adapt.
"They pitch was difficult to pass the ball on; it was as bobbly as you could get and everything that didn't really suit us. It was a challenge to play good football.
"We had a new back four with players playing out of position so we knew it would be a challenge and it proved to be like that. Sometimes you earn your luck and everyone was fully committed and we needed Trav [Mark Travers] at times. He made some good saves.
"It's an important point and there are a lot of positives to take from that even though it wasn't a classic on the eye. We knew we would have to defend and we were ready for it."
