Below is an excerpt from the NHL.com/CP article about Alex Tanguay’s great start with the Canadiens and his thoughts about the instant chemistry he has with Saku Koivu.
Tanguay and Koivu clicked right away, first with Guillaume Latendresse on their wing and more recently with the speedy Christopher Higgins.
“For the first 10 games, for sure it’s a surprise because I’m usually a slow starter,” added Tanguay. “We still feel as a line – me, Saku and now with Chris – that we can play better.
“We can improve in certain areas. We can be more consistent. That goes for the whole team. I know the record may not be 8-1-1 every 10 games, and we can improve.”
There were doubts at the start of the season about putting Tanguay and Koivu together. They play similar styles. Both like to hold onto the puck to make plays. But rather than getting in each other’s way, they’ve become a dangerous twosome with strong numbers on attack and on defence. Koivu is a team-best plus-9.
“One thing is that we got a couple of goals right away, in the second game of the season,” said Koivu. “Especially for him, as a newcomer, it took some pressure off.
“And when you get some goals, you’re more relaxed on the ice and then you get some confidence. Sometimes you don’t need a lot of games with a guy to get some chemistry and with Alex, I find he’s really easy to play with, with his vision and the way he can hold onto the puck an extra second to create time and room for me.”