The Forge's usual steady goaltending was shakier than a raft at high tide last night, which allowed the Cleveland Barons to walk away with a 6-4 victory.
The Barons opened a 3-1 lead in the first period and stretched it to 4-1 in the second to disappoint 1,135 fans at Island Sports Center on Neville Island, the largest crowd for a Forge home game.
With the loss, the second place Forge (18-7-2) split a home-and-away series with Cleveland (15-8), which it leads by six points in the Eastern Division of the North American Hockey League.
In the past nine games the Forge are 3-4-2 after starting the season 11-2.
Last night, the Forge were ineffective on the power play and could not muster many second-chance shots at even strength. Barons goalie Eric Van Den Bosch was outstanding, stopping 27 of 30 shots.
With a 4-1 lead, the Barons pushed ahead 5-1 on forward Brandon Kaleniecki's second goal a minute into the third period. Thereafter the Barons coasted, keeping the puck out of their zone until late when the Forge scored three goals, two of which came in the final three minutes.
By then, it was much too late to play catch-up.
The Forge rallied from a 2-1 deficit Friday to defeat the Barons, 5-2, in Cleveland. Five goal-scorers, including Josh Coyle who scored his first goal this season, helped the Forge eke out a close contest, which was blown open in the final five minutes of the third period.
In his first game, backup goalie Larry Sterling, who was acquired last month from Cleveland, made 25 saves on 27 shots.
Sterling (28 saves) was unable to duplicate that success last night. He allowed three goals after stepping in for Heneroty (10 saves), who was pulled six minutes into the first period after giving up three goals. It was the first time this season he has been taken out in the first period.
Forge forwards Andy Cote and Pat Levendusky, despite knee injuries suffered in Cleveland, played last night despite having knee injuries in Friday night's game, but Brandon Warner had to leave the game with a concussion.
The Barons pushed their lead to 4-1 five minutes into the period. On a Forge power play, Kaleniecki scored a short-handed goal as his teammates cleared the offensive zone. Kaleniecki raced after a puck sliding in between the face off circles, shuffled his stick and ripped a shot high over Sterling's right shoulder.
That play symbolized the Forge's ineptitude on the power play, as it was one for six last night.
In the previous five games, the Forge was 2 for 23 on the power play. It went 0 for 11 in losses against No.1 ranked Compuware last weekend but snapped its slump against Cleveland Friday night by scoring two power-play goals.
Last night, the Forge were simply unable to set up the power play, cycling the puck without fluidity or cohesion.
Cleveland jumped to a 3-1 lead in the first period, dominating with physical play and capitalizing on several Forge defensive lapses.
While the Forge's penalty kill -- second best in the league -- held firm, Cleveland found clear opportunities at even strength. At 8:12, forward Andrew Walbert skated freely in front of the net and cleanly shot past Heneroty, opening a 1-0 lead.
That goal was followed by an equally uninhibited goal by Jon Sjolund at 15:33. Skating ahead of the pack, he took a pass from Walbert and poked in the second goal.
About a minute later, the Barons struck again when Nick Biondo flipped in an easy wrist shot. Biondo also camped in front of the goalie and pounced on a pass from behind the net.
The Forge responded by pulling Heneroty and inserting Sterling. Bernie Chmiel then scored the first of his two goals, knocking in a rebound off a breakaway attempt by Kenny Trombetta.
Junior A Hockey: Forge shaky in goal as Barons win 
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