Brace yourselves for another stupid chimney question

And a happy Thanksgiving to you all!

Got to spend the morning opening my 6" liner & insulation kit from Rockford Chimney... it was like Christmas!

Anyhow, I had time to dry-fit most of the pieces to assure I got all the right things. My Sierra Hearthstove has 6" double wall coming off the top, rising 12" to a 90, then going straight into a 6" hole in the wall that connects directly to the chimney with no assistance. In other words, there's just a 6" hole drilled in the masonry chimney.

My kit includes a 6" two-piece tee that I can coax through the hole in the chimney (with effort) to connect to the liner. However, it's exactly the same diameter as the stovepipe!

Should I have ordered some other connector? Fortunately, it's not cold yet...

Oh! Well, then... I did think of that... it just seemed like there should be a more "solid" connection from the pipe to the tee. I'll also have to figure a way to hide the join, since the stove pipe is black and the tee is stainless.

If I crimp the snout off the tee and connect it to the stovepipe, that would make the tee the "male" end of that connection. Would this not create a 'friction' point for creosote to accumulate?

Yes, it has. My camera skills put the inside of the actual flue in shadow. There are, however, the dribbles of schmootz visible where the stovepipe was simply jammed into the thimble.

The needs for this new liner was exposed by the sweep who did the aforementioned cleaning.