-- Devils defenseman Henrik Tallinder is expected to miss the next six to eight weeks after being diagnosed with acute thrombophlebitis of the lower left leg, GM Lou Lamoriello announced during Thursday's 4-1 loss to Boston.Acute thrombophlebitis is essentially a blood clot in the vein.Devils coach Pete DeBoer said nobody, including Tallinder, is exactly sure when the blood clot developed or how. However, Tallinder had been experiencing some level of pain over the past few days. It got worse on Thursday, so the Devils sent him for a MRI that confirmed what was causing the pain."It's tough, what are you going to do?" DeBoer said of losing Tallinder. "This is a war of attrition in this League and everybody is dealing with it. You have to just keep moving forward."DeBoer said after the Devils optional morning skate that he anticipated having the same group of defensemen for Thursday's game that he used Tuesday in New Jersey's 5-1 win over Winnipeg. That included Tallinder."I don't think anyone expected it would be as serious as it turned out to be today," DeBoer said. "I came in this morning thinking he was going to play." Matt Taormina played in Tallinder's place and finished with 20:47 of ice time.Tallinder, 33, has no goals and six assists with a minus-11 rating in 39 games for New Jersey. He is in his second season with the Devils after seven seasons with Buffalo.