Kunitz sits out practice

*** Left winger Chris Kunitz did not participate in the Penguins’ practice at Rogers Arena in Vancouver this afternoon, and his status for Wednesday night’s game against the Canucks has not been determined. “He’s a bit banged up,” coach Mike Johnston said. “Right now, there’s no signal that he’ll other play or not play.”

*** Rookie Daniel Sprong filled in for Kunitz on the third line during the workout, and Johnston sounded as if he’d like to keep Sprong out of the press box.“We’ve worked with him a lot over the last little while … just on the video and just on how he’s playing overall, some areas of improvement. And the best way to see that is to get him back into action.”

*** Here are the forward combinations at today’s workout:

Pascal Dupuis-Sidney Crosby-Patric Hornqvist

David Perron-Evgeni Malkin-Phil Kessel

Daniel Sprong-Nick Bonino-Beau Bennett

Sergei Plotnikov-Matt Cullen-Eric Fehr

*** Here are the defense pairings:

Kris Letang-Ian Cole

Brian Dumoulin-Ben Lovejoy

Olli Maatta-Rob Scuderi/Adam Clendening