Canadian pairs duo Stellato-Dudek, Deschamps sit 2nd after short program at Skate America

The American pairs duo of Alexa Knierim and Brandon Frazier scored 75.19 points in their short program to take the lead over Canada's Deanna Stellato-Dudek and Maxime Deschamps, who had 73.05 points at Skate America on Friday night in Norwood, Mass.

Knierim and Frazier, who helped the U.S. win team silver at the Beijing Olympics, are heavy favourites at the opening ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating event after taking advantage of the absence of the powerful Russian teams to win their first world title earlier this year.

Performing to "Separate Ways" by the American rock band Journey, Knierim and Frazier dazzled a sellout crowd with their opening triple twist. Frazier two-footed the landing on their side-by-side triple toe loop, but the 2021 champions from Skate America came back with a beautiful throw triple flip to earn a solid component score.

Knierim and Frazier were expected to show out on the Grand Prix stage, though. The surprise came from Stellato-Dudek and Deschamps, whose performance to "Oblivion" by Astor Piazzolla put them solidly in second place.

The winners of the lower-level Nebelhorn Trophy earlier this year were solid from their opening triple twist, through their side-by-side triple toe and into their throw triple loop to keep within range of the gold medal.

"We are very pleased with our performance, happy to be here," said Stellato-Dudek, who calls Chicago home and previously skated for the U.S. "It's kind of a homecoming for me. It's like my wedding. It's like I know everybody."

Letizia Roscher and Luis Schuster of Germany were well behind in third with 54.87 points, while fellow Canadians Kelly Ann Laurin and Loucas Ethier are in fourth place (52.59).

WATCH | Canada's Stellato-Dudek, Deschamps sit in