95 LHS Trunk Spring

Ok another problem with this car. If I didn't love the ride and look so much I would ditch it. Anyway here goes:

Ok I went away for a couple weeks and my wife was driving my car and she told me when I got home that the trunk doesn't open anymore. I hit the electric release and pulled up on the trunk and noticed it won't stay open. One of the springs on the drive side was gone, nowhere to be found yet. Can I replace these with gas struts instead or do I need to get the original spring installed again? I see the gas struts are cheap, like 13 bucks each, and I haven't found a spring yet.