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Penn State hockey betting odds: Are the Lions favored to beat Arizona State Friday night?

Greg Pickelby: Greg Pickel10/03/25GregPickel
NCAA Hockey: Frozen Four-Semifinals-Game Two-Boston University vs Penn State
Penn State Nittany Lions forward Nicholas DeGraves (17) celebrates with teammates after scoring a goal against the Boston University Terriers during the third period of the Frozen Four college ice hockey national semifinals at Enterprise Center. (Mandatory Credit: Connor Hamilton-Imagn Images)

The 2025-2026 Penn State men’s hockey season starts tonight at No. 14 Arizona State. Head coach Guy Gadowsky’s team is in Tempe for a two-game series to start the most hyped season in program history. The Nittany Lions are No. 5 in the USCHO.com preseason poll, which is their highest ranking ever. They are also picked to finish second in the Big Ten’s preseason poll. And, they are a favored to win tonight’s matchup with the Sun Devils.

BetMGM makes the Lions a -175 favorite (Arizona State is +135 to win). The over/under, which includes both overtime and shootouts, is 6.5 goals. It is juiced to the over at -135. And the puck line is Penn State -1.5. Puck drop is at 10 p.m. ET. NHL Network will televise the game nationally. And, the NHL’s YouTube page will stream it worldwide.

“We know how good they’re going to be talent-wise,” Arizona State head coach Greg Powers said this week. “They’re going to be as good as we face all year. But we play in a great league full of first-round picks on teams and full of players that we think are just as good. We will have an immense amount of respect for what they put on the ice. We will not be afraid of what we see on the ice. I can promise you that.”

As for the season-long outlook, BetMGM also makes Penn State the favorite to win it all.

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Penn State hockey season preview

Prized prospect Gavin McKenna, who picked Penn State over the summer and is the projected No. 1 overall 2026 NHL Draft pick, is one of a number of newcomers, including transfer defenseman and 2024-2025 Hobey Baker award finalist Mac Gadowsky and transfer goalie Kevin Reidler, who will pair with a key returning nucleus that features the team’s top six scores from a year ago to chase the program’s first NCAA title.

You can read a preview of the Nittany Lions’ season, which includes information on the new and familiar parts of Gadowsky’s roster, the program’s 2025-2026 outlook, and more by clicking here.