Mitch Marner and the Golden Knights send a message by destroying the Nashville Predators

December 31 wasn't that long ago when the Vegas Golden Knights were doubled up by the Nashville Predators. That game saw Brayden McNabb get hurt and put on a week-to-week basis and the Golden Knights continue to slide. The fortunes changed before the second matchup, with Vegas entering Saturday with a six-game winning streak.

Well, the Golden Knights didn't forget about that embarrassing NYE loss and exacted their revenge, 7-2. Mark Stone, Mitch Marner, and Pavel Dorofeyev scored goals for Vegas, giving them plenty of starpower. Of course, there were also goals from Shea Theodore, Cole Reinhardt, Keegan Kolesar, and... Alexander Holtz?

Yep. That Alexander Holtz. It's always refreshing to see him score.

Justus Annunen was phenomenal for the Predators until the third period. He eventually collapsed to the endless Golden Knights attack, where they fired off 36 shots. Akira Schmid was solid for the Golden Knights, stopping 27 of 29 shots.

So much for that feel-good story, huh? Looks like midnight has struck for Cinderella and the Golden Knights have won seven straight games. What a January, eh?

The game had a hybrid of good and bad (mostly good in the third period). Heck, you can make the case that there was also some ugliness involved. That's how the natural order of life works, where you have some funky (like a monkey) scenes go down. So let's break everything down and see what happened on Saturday night.

The Vegas Golden Knights continue to make costly errors in the form of turnovers

Whenever you try to make a successful exit, you don't want to throw a Hail Mary pass to a random opponent. Instead, you want to look for space and ensure the opposition stays away from the puck. Well, that didn't happen in the first period as Roman Josi and Luke Evangelista capitalized on a fatal error.

That has been the case all season, where a bad defensive zone turnover has devastated the Golden Knights. That's especially true when you're facing a pesky team like the Nashville Predators, who move well across the ice.

If that was against a team like the Colorado Avalanche or the Dallas Stars, they would instantly turn into goals galore. That's something that Bruce Cassidy and company must crack down on, especially during the Stanley Cup playoffs.

Akira Schmid had a solid performance for the Golden Knights

As mentioned, Schmid was terrific for the Golden Knights when called upon. He used the net to his advantage and deterred countless shots with his sheer size. In turn, it allowed Vegas to get back into the game and take the lead.

It's the type of play that the Golden Knights have needed from their netminders this season. Inconsistent play and costly errors have hurt the goaltenders this season, leaving fans to finally have some hope for the position.

That also bodes well for Schmid's Golden Knights future. If he can string together more starts like this and adapt the "relief pitcher" mentality, there's a good future for the Olympian.