Tanguay recovered offensively to begin the season. He was named Montreal's player of the month in October after scoring a team-high six goals and 11 assists. He registered his 500th career point with a goal in a November 20 game against the Edmonton Oilers, and entered December as one of the leading vote getters for the 2009 All-Star Game. He ranked third in team-scoring at the end of the month when he suffered a separated left shoulder as a result of a hit by Evgeny Artyukhin of the Tampa Bay Lightning. He missed two months as a result and appeared in a career-low 50 games.