Fear not, fans of the winless Arizona Coyotes: The desert club is simply adjusting to a new approach that will eventually lead to long-term success, according to general manager John Chayka.

"Could we have more points playing a different style if we trapped it up, slowed it down, and just played safe? Yeah, maybe, but we're not going to reach that threshold of where we want to get by playing that way," Chayka told Craig Morgan of Arizona Sports on Monday. "This is the way we're going to reach it and there's an adjustment period. We're going through it."

To say it has been tough sledding for the Coyotes in the early going of the season would be an understatement. Through six games, Arizona has failed to record a win - the lone NHL team to do so - and picked up just one of a possible 12 points.

The team's most recent defeat came Tuesday, as the Coyotes fell 3-1 to the Dallas Stars. But there was at least one bright spot - rookie netminder Adin Hill turned aside 31 shots in the loss.

The 21-year-old was recalled Monday and stepped in for a struggling Louis Domingue as starter Antti Raanta remains sidelined with a lower-body injury. The Coyotes acquired Raanta from the New York Rangers in an offseason deal, but injury concerns have limited him to just five periods of on-ice action.

"Adin Hill was solid," Coyotes coach Rick Tocchet told reporters Tuesday. You're just looking for somebody to make a play and score a goal. Guys worked hard, just couldn't score."

Tocchet joined the Coyotes this offseason following back-to-back Stanley Cups as an assistant with the Pittsburgh Penguins, and is looking to implement a similar playing style with his new club.

Arizona's next chance to deliver its first win of the season comes Thursday in a rematch with the Stars.

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Copyright © 2017 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

The Florida Panthers are taking the positives from a loss. Well, one positive.

Following a 5-1 defeat to the Philadelphia Flyers on Tuesday, Panthers coach Bob Boughner didn't like much about his club, save for rookie Owen Tippett's NHL debut.

"I thought he was our best player," Boughner said following the loss, according to FOX Sports Florida. "That's great for him, but I think other guys have got to check themselves in the mirror.

"If an 18-year-old playing his first game is your best player, then you're not going to have a chance to win many games, especially on the road."

The loss dropped the Panthers to 2-3-0.

Tippett, who was scratched in the previous four games, skated for more than 11 minutes against the Flyers. He finished with a team-leading seven shots.

Selected 10th overall in the 2017 draft, Tippett was a surprise pick to make the immediate jump to the NHL after completing just two seasons in junior. He scored 44 goals and collected 31 assists in 60 games with the OHL's Mississauga Steelheads last season.

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The Ottawa Senators may have suffered their first regulation loss of the 2017-18 NHL campaign Tuesday night, but at least they got their captain and No. 1 defenseman, Erik Karlsson, back in the fold.

A 3-0 shutout loss to the Vancouver Canucks soured what should have been a generally positive night for the Sens as Karlsson took the ice in game action for the first time since May.

He showed flashes of his former Norris-winning self, but also struggled at times, displaying some of the rust expected from a player coming off ankle surgery.

Here are three things we learned from Karlsson's return.

He hasn't missed a beat offensively

Karlsson may have been held off the scoresheet, but he still demonstrated his offensive touch.

He threw two shots on net, hit a post, and turned in a beauty end-to-end rush that left multiple Canucks defenders searching for their jockstraps.

Check out this play from the first frame:

Logging heavy minutes won't be an issue

Half an ankle bone and months away from the ice weren't enough to keep Karlsson from shouldering a serious workload. He led the Senators in ice time Tuesday, logging 22:25.

In addition to resuming his even-strength responsibilities, Karlsson also assumed his familiar position on the top unit of Ottawa's power play.

Sure, it's only one game, but Karlsson is quickly proving that his surgically repaired ankle is ready for heavy minutes.

He needs time to adjust defensively

(Photo courtesy: Action Images)

While he already looked relatively comfortable at the other end of the ice, Karlsson's play in his own end still needs some work.

It's hardly worth worrying about his minus-2, but Karlsson did look a bit lost at times defensively - especially on Thomas Vanek's breakaway goal, where Karlsson was left behind and got scored on.

For a guy with a completely reconstructed ankle, though, Karlsson's performance in his first game back was promising. Once he has a few more contests under his belt, expect Karlsson to recapture his All-Star form.

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Sidney Crosby remains on a different level.

The Pittsburgh Penguins superstar center displayed a crazy amount of wherewithal in order to score a game-tying goal late in the third period against the New York Rangers, and from behind the goal line no less.

Let's take a quick look.

With Matt Murray on the bench in order to get an extra attacker on the ice, the Penguins - down by a goal - looked to create a scoring chance.

Crosby (87) stationed himself to the left of Henrik Lundqvist (30), and Evgeni Malkin (71) positioned himself near the boards to assess his options.

Malkin attempted to work the puck to a cutting Patric Hornqvist (72), but it went off the defender's stick and up into the air.

Hornqvist batted it down with his glove, swung and missed on a shot attempt, and watched as the puck headed towards Crosby.

Crosby knew he was unable to play the puck off the unintentional hand pass, and therefore waited for Kevin Shattenkirk (22) to touch it.

He immediately regained possession and threw a shot toward the front of the net.

Fortuitously, it bounced off Lundqvist and into the back of the net.

Now, to be clear, it wasn't Crosby's intention to bank the puck in for a goal.

The brilliance of this play was his realization that Hornqvist was guilty of a hand pass and the patience displayed in waiting for Shattenkirk to touch the puck before he did, lest the play be whistled dead - leading to a faceoff outside the offensive zone at a crucial juncture.

The goal, which can be seen here, was scored at 19:04 of the third period, and allowed Pittsburgh to push the game to overtime, where Malkin scored the game-winner.

It was also Crosby's fourth through seven games this season.

(Images courtesy: NHL.com)

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Nikita Kucherov is on one heck of a roll to start the season.

The Tampa Bay Lightning winger scored Tuesday against the New Jersey Devils, keeping his early-season goal streak alive and putting himself alongside one of the greatest in hockey history.

Prior to Kucherov and Mario Lemieux, the last two players to score in each of his team's opening seven games were Mike Bossy and Wayne Gretzky.

Decent company for Kucherov to keep.

It's a feat few have achieved in in the modern era.

The goal was Kucherov's eighth of the season, second only to Alex Ovechkin among the NHL's scoring leaders.

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A seat is open at the negotiation table if the Calgary Flames are willing to talk.

That's the stance from Calgary mayor Naheed Nenshi, who was re-elected for a third term Monday, and who remains open to discussing a new arena with the club.

"As I've said for many, many weeks, the city has never left the table," Nenshi said in his victory speech Monday, per Donna Spencer of the Toronto Star.

"When they're ready to come back to the table and have a discussion understanding this mandate from Calgarians, we are ready and willing to have that discussion with them."

Last month, the Flames walked away from negotiations after president and CEO Ken King declared talks with the city as "spectacularly unproductive."

Both sides have since disclosed their proposals to the public, with the city offering a three-part model to be funded by the team, public dollars, and ticket surcharges. The Flames' proposal included a $275-million payment from the team.

With negotiations at a standstill, the Flames now consider the file closed, stating the team will play out of the 34-year-old Scotiabank Saddledome for as long as it is deemed feasible.

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The ban has finally been lifted.

When the Arizona Coyotes square off against the Dallas Stars on Tuesday, they will do so with a little reinforcement in the lineup, as agitating winger Zac Rinaldo is set to make his season debut.

It marks Rinaldo's first game since Feb. 28, 2016, a contest in which the former Boston Bruins forward delivered an illegal hit to the Tampa Bay Lightning's Cedric Paquette. Rinaldo was subsequently suspended for five games following the play.

It appeared as if it would be Rinaldo's final NHL game. The 27-year-old spent all of last season with the AHL's Providence Bruins and hasn't skated in the big leagues since the incident.

But another shot in the NHL came this offseason, when Rinaldo inked a deal with the Coyotes. The expectation was that Rinaldo would toil in the minors, but a strong performance in training camp saw him earn a spot with the big club.

Rinaldo was scratched through Arizona's first five games of the season, effectively - and finally - serving his five-game suspension. The ban now lifted, combined with a slow start to the season for the Coyotes, has left the team looking for a spark. Enter Rinaldo.

"He's an energy guy," Coyotes coach Rick Tocchet told reporters Monday. "He's the type of guy that can get some life on the bench and he doesn't hurt you on the ice."

Rinaldo is penciled into the team's fourth line for Tuesday's contest, where he will line up with fellow forwards Mario Kempe and Jordan Martinook.

"A year and a half is like the longest five-game suspension in NHL history," Rinaldo said. "You can laugh about it, I laughed about it, but now it's not a laughing matter.

"I worked my (butt) off to be here and I'm going to stay here. I'm going to do whatever I can every day, every practice, and every game to stay here."

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