Japan's world and Olympic figure skating champion Yuzuru Hanyu took the lead after the men's short program in his season debut at the Autumn Classic International on Wednesday.
Hanyu had a shaky landing on a quad toe loop in the second half of his performance to Chopin's "Ballade No. 1," but nailed two triple jumps to score 93.14 points.
He finished 6.61 points ahead of Canada's Nam Nguyen (86.53), while Bennet Toman, also of Canada, was a distant third with 64.95.
"I had a good feeling in the six-minute practice warm-up, but to be honest I am disappointed about (my landing) on the quad toe loop," said Hanyu.
"I don't think I have skated this program yet without making any mistakes. I have to find a way (on my jumps) to get going. I am glad I have found in competition something that I need to work on."
In the women's short program, Haruka Imai under-rotated her second triple jump and placed third on 58.17 points behind American Angela Wang (59.49) and Kazakhstan's Elizabet Tursynbayeva (59.23).
"I could not complete consecutive triples so there is nothing I can do about the score," said Imai. "In the free program also I want to deliver a performance I can build on next week at Skate America."