KITCHENER, Ont.  - US champion Jeremy Abbott was the surprise men's leader on Friday at Skate Canada as world silver medallist Patrick Chan struggled through his short programme to wind up back in sixth.

But home fans had something to cheer as Canada's other world silver medallist Joannie Rochette topped the women's leaderboard with a flawless short programme that earned a career-best score of 70.0 at this, the final stop of six in the ISU Figure Skating Grand Prix.

Abbott finessed his way through his short programme set to the bluesy Beatles tune A Day in the Life, hitting every triple jump and engaging the audience with his choreography.

He scored 79.00 points to 76.30 for second-place finisher Daisuke Takahashi, of Japan, who is working his way back to top form after knee surgery sidelined him last season.

Kazakhstan's Denis Ten was third (75.45) heading into Saturday's closing free skate, which should prove exciting given the tight range of scores.

It's not that Abbott as the 2008 Grand Prix Final champion lacks the credentials to win, but he has not finished on the podium in international competition since that victory a year ago.

"I just wanted to come in here and do two really solid performances. I have been training really well and I love both my programmes. I have a goal of making the Grand Prix Final," said Abbott, who finished fifth just behind Takahashi at the Grand Prix in Japan two weeks ago.

Takahashi, who holds the record for highest total score ever posted, had the audience in the palm of his hand with his solid jumps and saucy delivery of intricate, circular footwork set to tango music.

"I'm just happy to be back in competition and now I want to raise the percentage (of success) on my jumps," he said.

Rochette also offered a tango-themed programme which included a solid triple lutz-double toe jump combination followed by a perfectly executed triple flip.

"I was really happy to do this after China. We worked really hard on the short programme and tried to change the psychological approach to it," said Rochette, who settled for third in Beijing after a subpar opening skate.

US champion Alissa Czisny, the 2005 Skate Canada champion, also performed without major error and earned a personal best of 63.52. Her teammate Mirai Nagasu ranked third (56.34).

Germany's reigning two-time world pairs champions Aliona Savchenko and Robin Szolkowy enjoy a sizeable lead with 74.16 points ahead of Maria Mukhortova and Maxim Trankov, of Russia, (65.80) and Canadians Jessica Dube and Bryce Davison (57.90).

In ice dance, Canada's world bronze medallists Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir took a commanding lead with their Tango Romantica compulsory, posting 40.69 points.

Men's, women's and pairs' competition ends Saturday with their free skates, while ice dancers move on to original dance.

Competition concludes Sunday with the free dance. At the conclusion of Skate Canada, the six men, women, pairs and ice dance couples who have accumulated the most points in their two Grand Prix appearances will advance to the prestigious Grand Prix Finals in Tokyo.