Justin Schultz is batting a thousand with the Pittsburgh Penguins.
In just his second season with the NHL club, the West Kelowna native already has two Stanley Cup titles to his name.
Schultz and the Penguins secured the 2017 championship Sunday night in Nasvhille with a series-clinching 2-0 victory over the Predators.
A former member of the BCHL’s West Kelowna Warriors, Schultz had four goals and 13 points in 21 post season games, including the winning goal in Game 5.
Schultz, 26, like many of the Penguins, endured various injuries and two long, gruelling seasons of hockey to win Pittsburgh’s second straight cup.
“When you play so long, the year before you go all the way, then you play so long again this year, guys get banged up,” Schultz told Hockey Night in Canada’s David Amber on the ice following the game. “That’s the way it is. We had great depth and guys came in and did their job, everyone stepped up and it worked.”
Joining Schultz on the ice in the aftermath Sunday night in Nashville was his mom, Kim Schultz.
“It’s just awesome, he has such a great opporunity to play with the Penguins, they’re such a wonderful organization,” Kim Schultz told Amber. “We’re very happy his career is going the way it’s going, obviously. It’s very exciting.”
After three-plus seasons in Edmonton to begin his NHL career, Schultz was traded to the Penguins in February 2016 for a third-round draft pick.