EL SEGUNDO, Calif. -- The Los Angeles Kings have bought out the final two years of defenseman Dion Phaneuf's contract.

The Kings made the move Saturday.

The 34-year-old veteran spent 93 games with the Kings, who acquired him in February 2018. Phaneuf scored 16 points and racked up 68 penalty minutes, but the former Maple Leafs captain occasionally sat as a healthy scratch last season for the first time in his career.

Phaneuf had two years left on a seven-year, $49 million contract through the 2020-21 season. He agreed to the deal in Toronto but has been traded twice since.

The Kings are rebuilding after finishing eighth in the Pacific Division last season with their worst point total since 2008.

South Africa 131 for 1 (de Kock 68, Amla 40*) beat Afghanistan 125 all out (Rashid 35, Tahir 4-29, Morris 3-13) by nine wickets

South Africa have finally won one. So far have the Proteas' stocks fallen in this tournament after three defeats and an unconvincing outing against West Indies, that an Afghan victory in this match was not unthinkable.

But this was a make-or-break encounter for both teams, and it was Afghanistan who blinked - and broke - first, collapsing in a heap after they were unnerved by repeated rain breaks in the afternoon. Having been 39 for 0, Afghanistan's disintegration began in earnest after the second - and longer - of two rain intervals as they lost four wickets in two overs to Imran Tahir's guile and Andile Phehlukwayo's wiles, slipping to 77 for 7.

But for Rashid Khan's boshing, they might have folded for under 100. He cracked a rapid 35 from No. 9 to save some of Afghanistan's blushes before they were bowled out for 125. All told, they had lost 10 for 86, with Tahir collecting 4 for 29 and Chris Morris 3 for 13. Phehlukwayo chimed in with two wickets of his own, and he also performed a crucial holding role, stringing together 36 dot balls as Afghanistan's hit or miss (and today, it was usually miss) tactics backfired.

As has been the case throughout their campaign so far, Afghanistan's batsmen just didn't score enough runs to give their busy, bustling bowling attack enough to work with. Had they managed to scrounge together even 250, there might have been a game on - Quinton de Kock and Hashim Amla were kept to just 35 runs in the Powerplay, and endured some uncomfortable moments early on - but without a total to defend, any intensity remaining in the competition quickly dissipated.

Faced with a chase that even they couldn't muck up, South Africa rode on de Kock's 72-ball 68 to secure a nine-wicket victory - and a vital two points - with slightly more than 21 overs to spare. But while de Kock and Amla's 104-run opening stand settled the result, the match really turned on Tahir's remarkable spin with the ball.

More to follow...

June 13 - 16, 2019

Editor’s Note: Jesse Love, 14, is a rookie in the POWRi Lucas Oil National Midget League. From June 13 through June 17, Love will be sharing his experiences with SPEED SPORT subscribers while competing during Illinois Speed Week. 

Love drives the No. 97k Toyota-powered midget for Keith Kunz Motorsports. Below is his third diary entry, recapping Friday night’s events at Jacksonville Speedway in Jacksonville, Ill.

JACKSONVILLE, Ill. – Friday night’s POWRi race at Jacksonville Speedway was a huge boost of confidence for me, as we scored a podium finish in just my third race with Keith Kunz Motorsports!

It was pretty bittersweet, though. We got the make-up feature in from the POWRi race that was rained out back in April, but Mother Nature came back and got us before we could run the actual Illinois Speed Week race at the end of the night.

Starting up front in the make-up race was a really good way to start the night, as we lined up fifth from the grid back in April, but on the initial start I knew I couldn’t sleep on the wheel because of guys like Cannon (McIntosh), (Jerry) Coons (Jr.), (Tanner) Thorson, (Zach) Daum and more all right behind me.

In the first couple of laps, I rolled the bottom and got up to third after Cannon bobbled on a restart in front of me at lap eight, but then a yellow came out for another car flipping in turn three and I knew that the field was gonna be close.

We hit lap traffic with a few laps to go, which was pretty fun to maneuver as well, and ultimately held off Cannon at the end to stay on the podium!

Even though I had been at Jacksonville before for a weekly show, the track was different than it had been before and because of the rain, it was pretty hooked up. However, running there before, I had to move through the field, which definitely helped me pass people.

We were setting up for the second feature well too, with locking into the feature through our heat race before showers knocked out the rest of the program before our B main. We were going to start 13th and I really think we would have had a shot to move forward.

However, the weather had other ideas. To be honest, I’m really getting bored with the rain refrain every single night; I really hope as we get deeper into the summer, we can actually get some more races in and keep building a rapport as a team. If we can, I think we’ll be really strong!

To finish third on Friday is really solid, but I’m not going to be satisfied until we are on top of the podium. We have equipment that’s capable of being there and I want to give Keith (Kunz) and Pete (Willoughby) a victory in return for their belief in me.

I’m super grateful to have the opportunity that I have right now and this was one of the best nights of racing I’ve ever had! I’m looking forward to the next one!

EDITOR’S NOTE: Saturday’s scheduled Illinois Speed Week round at Macon Speedway has been canceled due to heavy rainfall.

Read Love’s prior entries at the links below:

Entry No. 1: Jesse Love Raring To Go!

Entry No. 2: Solid Start For Love

BARCELONA, Spain – Just 11 days after undergoing arm pump surgery in Barcelona, rookie sensation Fabio Quartararo flew to his second-career MotoGP pole during qualifying for the Catalan Grand Prix on Saturday.

Quartararo lapped the 2.892-mile, 16-turn Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya in 1:39.484 to put his Petronas Yamaha SRT entry on the front of the grid for Sunday’s race.

The rookie edged five-time and defending premier class champion Marc Marquez by .015 seconds for the pole position, with a shot to become the youngest premier class winner in history should he hold on for the victory on race day.

Marquez finished Q2 in second on his Repsol Honda, with a time of 1:39.499 placing him in the middle of the front row alongside Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP’s Maverick Viñales, who completed the top three on the grid and was two tenths of a second adrift of the pole.

Marquez’s run at the pole was squelched at turn four on his final flying lap, after his rear tire slid wide and cost him precious tenths of a second on the stopwatch.

An all-Italian second row sees Quartararo’s teammate, Franco Morbidelli, starting alongside the second factory Yamaha of Valentino Rossi and the factory Ducati of Andrea Dovizioso.

The second Ducati of Danilo Petrucci, Team Suzuki Ecstar’s Alex Rins, LCR Honda Castrol’s Cal Crutchlow and the sister Repsol Honda of Jorge Lorenzo completed the top 10 starters.

FULTON, N.Y. – Monitoring the forecast, the decision has been made to save race teams and fans travel time and money and cancel the scheduled racing program at Fulton Speedway for June 15.

June 22 is next on the docket and will be one of the most popular nights for fans and competitors on the schedule, when Burdick Ford of Central Square and McDonald’s Restaurants present Family Autograph Night.

After all the qualifying is complete, fans will be able to go down on the front straightaway to get up close to all the race cars and meet their favorite drivers for pictures, autographs and driver giveaways.

ROSSBURG, Ohio – Rain hit Eldora Speedway early on Saturday afternoon, forcing Eldora Speedway officials to cancel the track’s scheduled Ohio Sprint Speedweek event.

The increasing threat of severe storms and a once promising window to which the event was constrained completely diminished, compelling Eldora and Ollie’s Bargain Outlet All Star Circuit of Champions (ASCoC) officials to make the difficult decision.

The storm system, which spans west to Missouri, has the region under a National Weather Service Flash Flood Watch through Sunday.

With the Ohio Sprint Speedweek schedule encompassing nine straight nights of racing at eight different Ohio tracks and no available rain date, the event will not be rescheduled.

All tickets will be refunded via method of purchase. Suite holders will be contacted individually.

Next up for Eldora is the 36th Kings Royal Weekend, July 18-20.

The summer’s most-fabled event is bigger than ever, with three days of World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series action culminating in Saturday night’s 40-lap spectacle paying $175,000-to-win.