Mark Hanretty has indicated in his Junior ice dance commentary at the Calhoun/ Zheltyshev would have finished third in the RD over their fellow U.S. competitors, Stapert/ Korotcov, if not for losing an entire point due to an extended lift. Too bad for C/Z missing out on being in third after the RD due to losing a whole point for an extended lift.

I thought both U.S. teams. (C/Z and Stapert/ Korotcov performed extremely well and had a bit better overall execution than the Italian team, Bianchi/ Basile, who were tentative and slightly ahead of their music at the end, likely due to drawing to skate first. They were going to be scored higher but clearly lost points. Their skill level is otherwise excellent.
As Mark H said, S/K and C/Z look stronger and improved in performance since their season debut at Lake Placid, in July. The Canadian team, Homick/ Buelow, have rep status with the judges and were going to be in second, if not for dropped levels. I do not think they were as strong overall in execution as the Italian and U.S. teams, but positions 2 - 5 are very close in scoring. The top French team in 6th place is also close in scoring to the top 3-5 finishers.
Most likely, the judges would have had the standings: top Russians first, then H/B Canadians; then B/B Italians; then C/Z over S/K Americans. But H/B lost levels and C/Z lost a whole point, which makes a huge difference when scores and abilities are close. The FD scores and final results will come down to who can perform well under pressure, in addition to judges' views of skater reputations.
The second Russian team I have never heard of, and I couldn't find any videos or information about them ahead of the competition. I did not expect them to be such newbies. They are rightly in last place.