On his first meeting with former club Newcastle, Pardew saw his side go behind prior to the interval as Papiss Cisse headed home Daryl Janmaat's cross.
Substitute Fraizer Campbell levelled matters 19 minutes from time, though, following delivery from Yannick Bolasie - another Pardew introduction.
The Palace boss paid tribute to his bench and, in particular Bolasie, telling reporters: "Every point is gold dust in the Premier League.
"Newcastle defended really well and made it really difficult for us - [they] scored with what turned out to be the only shot on target of the game - and put us on the back foot.
"I was really pleased with our reaction [in the] second half, I thought we took the game to Newcastle but really it was the bench that salvaged the game for us.
"Yannick's cross was of the highest order and he had no right to put a ball of that quality in with the room that he had - [it was] a great goal for us.
"There was only going to be one winner at that point but we couldn't force that second goal.
"But the way Newcastle defended and applied themselves, they probably deserved a point."
Pardew also played down talk of wanting to get the game out of the way because of his connections with Newcastle, adding: "I was looking forward to it, actually.
"I was looking forward to seeing friends and colleagues I'd worked with for four years and the team I'd put together."
