A look at Matthews and Marner's torrid second half shows that they may be the top 2 players in the NHL

When the season resumed after the Christmas break, Marner burst out of the gate and never slowed down. In the 48 games that came after January 1st, Marner lit up the league with 29 goals and a monstrous 76 points. Over an 82 game season, that's a 50-goal, 130-point pace. During that time.

Auston Matthews played 2 fewer games than Marner during that same stretch after being suspended for ̶a̶t̶t̶e̶m̶p̶t̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶t̶o̶ ̶d̶e̶c̶a̶p̶i̶t̶a̶t̶e̶ cross checking Rasmus Dahlin. Despite that, Matthews put up 40 goals and 74 points in those 46 games. His 82 game pace over that stretch? 71 goals, 130 points. He scored 5 more goals than any other player in the league over that stretch, becoming the first player in Leafs history to score 50 goals in 50 games (who cares whether it was official or unofficial? It was impressive) and the first to ever Leaf to hit the 60 goal mark.

It shouldn't be news to anyone just how good Marner and Matthews were together last season. In case anyone had missed it, Matthews was awarded both the Hart Trophy and Ted Lindsay award as the most valuable player in the NHL as voted by both the media and the players. Knock on wood, Matthews and Marner will both be healthy to start next season, and will continue to build on their chemistry with Michael Bunting from the beginning as well. Both players had career years last season, but it shouldn't be a surprise if they are able to best last year's performances over 82 games this year. If they both stay healthy, it wouldn't be a shock to see them both eclipse McDavid's 123 points from last season.