Gulls Lose Several Key Players, Then Fall to Lumberjacks : Hockey: True, Straub, Kvartalnov are missing from the lineup as Gulls fall to Muskegon, 7-6, in an overtime shootout.

Soren True was gone. Brian Straub was gone. Dmitri Kvartalnov was injured, and his older brother, Andrei, was back in the picture as a possible Gull acquisition.

And it was anything but business as usual for the Gulls and Coach Don Waddell. While Waddell remained upbeat about losing two players for good and his leading scorer indefinitely, the Gulls lost to the Muskegon Lumberjacks, 7-6, in a shootout in front of a season-high 9,749 at the San Diego Sports Arena.

With the scored tied, 2-2, in the shootout, Muskegon’s Jock Callander put the puck under diving Gull goalie Rick Knickle before Gull Larry Floyd failed to tie it on the final shot. The Gulls, 8-1-2 in their last 11 home games, held onto second place in the International Hockey League West Division but fell to 28-17-5 (61 points). Muskegon is 27-16-8 (62 points) after making the Gulls a loser in four of their past five shootouts.

The Gulls, often a step too slow on defense, at times played like they missed their teammates Friday. Straub, a defenseman who had three goals and 19 assists in 43 games, scored the final goal in the Gulls’ 5-4 loss at Kansas City Thursday then packed his bags and headed for Kalamazoo. He was recalled by the Minnesota North Stars then assigned to the Wings, who were in urgent need for defensemen.

Then at 1 a.m., Waddell was awakened by a phone call from Neil Smith, New York Rangers general manager. Smith, in Inglewood to watch his team play the Kings, traded the 23-year-old True to the Kings for future considerations.

All the left win had done this season was score 18 goals and add 19 assists in 45 games, and the Gulls were 18-1-2 over two seasons in games when True scored.

Having already lost a scorer and a versatile defender, Waddell learned Friday that Kvartalnov, the IHL leader in the goals (39) and second in points (75), would miss Friday’s game because of a twisted knee he suffered early in the third period Thursday.

Waddell refused to discuss the severity of the injury, saying Kvartalnov’s status is day-to-day, but Kvartalnov--who had to be helped off the ice in Salt Lake City--was in street clothes and limping under his own power Friday.

No cause for concern, said Waddell.

Not the fact that the 1991-92 roster had been stable with few recent changes compared to the 47 personnel transactions in 1990-91.

Not the idea that losing two regular players might weaken the chemistry of the Gulls, who entered Friday’s game 8-2-1 in their previous 11.

The Gulls have been playing well, and Waddell suggested that they haven’t lost a game that they shouldn’t have won since Dec. 20 (a 10-1 defeat at Salt Lake).

“That’s why I’m pretty positive about this,” Waddell said. “This team is more balanced than a lot of people think it is. We’ve proved that when we didn’t have (Len) Hachborn for five or six games and Dmitri for four and we still won.

“We’re in every game. A lot of game’s we’ve lost we could have won. It makes me feel good that we’re that type of team. We know going into games that we have a good chance of winning.

“I just have to go out and find a player. We need a goal scorer. I’m going scouting next week. I’ve got a couple of guys in mind. No names yet. Losing players doesn’t scare me. If you dig hard enough you can usually come up with a decent player.”

Andrei Kvartalnov, 28, may be a long shot at being that player. Waddell said he is slightly bigger than his younger brother and doesn’t score as much. But he is reconsidering the winger, who was held back from a U.S. tour with the Soviet Select team in December because of suspicion that he would defect. Kvartalnov soon after departed the Commonwealth of Independent States and now plans to join his brother here.

“I’m going to take a look at him, put him on trial,” Waddell said. “It’s been resurrected as of this week. He made the commitment that he was going to come over regardless. I said, ‘Great. You made the decision to come over, I’ll give you a tryout.’ ”

Perhaps Straub’s presence would have made a difference in Friday’s game; the first two periods were completely devoid of defense. The Gulls led, 6-5, after two but saw Muskegon come back and tie it for the fifth time 2:59 into the third period on a Jock Callander goal. With it, Callander passed Kvartalnov for the IHL lead in points with 76.

The game started with the Gulls scoring twice in the first 2:16, the quickest 2-0 lead in club history. They got two goals by Ray Whitney in the period (his 21st and 22nd) and one from Denny Lambert but were tied, 3-3, after one.

They led, 4-3, 5-4 and 6-5 on second-period goals by Ron Duguay, Kord Cernich and Alan Hepple. But the leads didn’t hold because the Gulls weren’t guarding the Lumberjacks, who scored on six of their first 19 shots on goal.

Gull Notes

Both teams were play here again tonight at 7:05 p.m. . . . Dmitri Kvartalnov’s injury is not to the knee that was injured and required cartilage surgery last year when he played in the Soviet Elite League . . . The IHL All-Star game, which will include Coach Don Waddell and Gulls Len Hachborn, Dmitri Kvartalnov, Ray Whitney, Robbie Nichols and Alan Hepple, will be televised tape delayed on Prime Ticket Sunday. The game, to be played at the Omni in Atlanta, will air at 11:30 p.m.