Oilers' Janmark pegged for McDavid's line in Game 1 vs. Canucks with Henrique out

Connor McDavid will have a different winger flanking him to start the Edmonton Oilers' next playoff series.

Who it will be, exactly, stepping in for the injured Adam Henrique depends on how players perform, head coach Kris Knoblauch said at Edmonton Oilers practice on Tuesday.

Mattias Janmark lined up alongside McDavid and Zach Hyman on the Oilers' first line as the team prepared at Edmonton's Downtown Community Arena for Wednesday's first game of their second-round series against the Vancouver Canucks.

Janmark "will definitely be in there for some shifts," Knoblauch told reporters, but added he expects "whoever's playing well" could see time playing along usual top-liners McDavid and Hyman.

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"I think Janmark's a guy everyone likes to play with," Knoblauch said.

"He's responsible, he can make the next play, he's good with the puck, but I think it'll be a little more by committee ... Janmark is a huge part of our penalty kill, and (we want to make) sure that he's fresh and ready for that. We've got a lot of guys that we think can move up and play there periodically."

Henrique — whose status is "day-to-day," said a "hopeful" Knoblauch, who didn't completely rule him out — scored a goal and assist in the five-game series victory over the Los Angeles Kings while playing on the top line, averaging just under 16 minutes of ice time per game. The trade-deadline acquisition from the Anaheim Ducks scored both his playoff points in Game 1.

Janmark had two assists in the series against L.A. while averaging about 10-and-a-half minutes of ice time.

Teammate Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, himself a periodic McDavid linemate, said Janmark "thinks in the right way in all situations, offensively (and) defensively."

"(He's) an easy guy to kind of plug into different spots throughout the lineup," Nugent-Hopkins told media.

"A lot of skill, a lot of speed, a great skater, but I think what makes him so versatile is the way that he thinks the game and how good his hockey IQ is."

Pair expects hometown hysteria

Both Nugent-Hopkins and fellow Oilers forward native Evander Kane are familiar with the hockey-mad environment in B.C.'s Lower Mainland.

The Vancouver-area natives said Tuesday they both expect — and will probably enjoy — the intense atmosphere at the Canucks' home, Rogers Arena, for the first two games of the series.

"I think anytime two Canadian teams get together, especially in the playoffs, there's that little 'extra,'" Kane told reporters at practice Tuesday.

"You've got to enjoy it and try to use it as even more leverage and to play your best game."

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Kane, who starred for the major junior Vancouver Giants before he entered the National Hockey League at age 18 after being drafted fourth overall in 2009 with the Atlanta Thrashers, said he grew up a fan of former Canucks star captain Markus Naslund.

"It being in Vancouver, I get to have some friends and family in the stands, and be in front of a very hostile environment in Vancouver, so that'll be fun," he said.

Nugent-Hopkins, a career Oiler who was the top pick of the 2011 draft, said he has special memories of going to a few Canucks games as a youth.

"I know a lot of people that I'm sure are a little torn here, but it doesn't matter ... It's the first time playing playoffs in my hometown, so it should be fun," Nugent-Hopkins said.

"I expect it to be loud for sure on both sides, I know the first round in Vancouver, from what I heard, was a great atmosphere, so we're excited.

"You kind of feed off the crowd either way. I think it gives you energy. It's going to be fun, two western Canadian teams."