LAS VEGAS — At this point, the Conn Smythe Trophy race isn’t really a race anymore.Barring an astonishing twist over the remainder of the Stanley Cup Final, if the Vegas Golden Knights win, Mitch Marner has separated himself from the field to such a degree that it’s difficult to construct a realistic alternative case. He’s leading the playoffs in scoring, has delivered in virtually every big moment (like scoring the fastest hat trick in Stanley Cup Final history Saturday night) and now sits at the center of a Vegas team that is two wins away from its second championship in four years.The challenge isn’t finding reasons Marner should win. It’s finding reasons somebody else might become the playoff MVP even if Carolina comes back and wins its second Stanley Cup in 20 years.If Vegas wins, it’s hard at this point to even consider a way one of his teammates can overtake the first-year Golden Knights star.Brett Howden leads all playoff performers with 13 goals. Logan Stankoven leads the Canes with 10. Before the series, it looked like Golden Knights goalie Carter Hart and Hurricanes goalie Freddie Andersen were going to be formidable competition for Marner. But they have each allowed 12 goals in the Stanley Cup Final with Andersen getting pulled in an epic Game 3 and Hart giving away a four-goal lead in the third period before Shea Theodore’s double-overtime winner saved him and the Golden Knights.The favoriteMitch MarnerWhere do we start?Marner has been a driver of the Golden Knights’ success all spring, picking up at least a point in 16 of 19 playoff games. He scored the series-clinching goal when they eliminated the Utah Mammoth in Round 1 and produced the highlight of the entire playoffs the night they eliminated the Anaheim Ducks in Round 2, shaking off a defender and pulling the puck through his legs before scoring just a minute into that game. He’s registered a point in all three games of the Stanley Cup Final so far and delivered a career-defining performance in Game 3, scoring a natural hat trick while adding an assist in a span of 6:26.Not only does Marner sit at 28 points for the playoffs, eight ahead of his next best teammate in Jack Eichel, he’s also a league-best plus-16. He’s been an all-situations superstar.It’s fair to say he left any questions about his ability to deliver in the biggest moments back in Toronto.If the Canes rallyIn the history of Conn Smythe voting, only six players from losing teams won the trophy, including Connor McDavid two years ago. But so many Canes offset each other that we could see a scenario where Marner becomes the seventh if Carolina comes back and wins the Cup.Just look at it this way: The strongest evidence Marner has effectively clinched the Conn Smythe may be that Carolina doesn’t have a consensus challenger. Stankoven, Taylor Hall, Nikolaj Ehlers, Jackson Blake and Andersen each have pathways to the trophy. Carolina’s case is divided among several candidates while Vegas’ case is concentrated almost entirely in one.