Canadian ice dancers Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir are leading the pack after the short dance Friday at the NHK Trophy in Osaka, Japan.

The pair received the top mark of 80.92, while Americans Madison Hubbell and Zachary Donohue, and Italians Anna Cappellini and Luca Lanotte finished in second and third with scores of 76.31 and 75.87, respectively.

A victory this week in Osaka would add to the one they picked up two weeks ago at Skate Canada International, where they made their first Grand Prix appearance of the season.

Canadian ice dancers Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir score 80.92 points in Osaka, Japan. 3:38

"We had a quick week turnaround from Skate Canada to here, so we had to be strategic about the improvements we wanted to make in each program," Virtue said. "It certainly was a step forward in a lot of the elements and we are pleased with the attack that we had and with our technical proficiency."

Virtue and Moir return to action in the free dance at 9:45 p.m. ET on Saturday, followed by the gala performances on Sunday at 1 a.m. ET, both of which will be live streamed on CBCSports.ca.

The event will also be featured on Road to the Olympic Games on Saturday at 3 p.m. ET and Sunday at 4 p.m. local time on CBC Television.