The Pittsburgh Penguins, who find themselves deep in the Eastern Conference finals playoffs right now, are hot on the ice.

They find their merchandise is even hotter, according to local retailers.

Josh Brownlee, a cashier at Dunham's Sporting Goods in Bridgeville, is seeing the Penguins' jerseys fly off the shelves since the playoffs began last month.

The Sidney Crosby jerseys have been a regular seller, according to Brownlee, but lately Evgeni Malkin's No. 71 has sold a bit better.

Brownlee, a Bridgeville resident who has worked at Dunham's for three years, has his opinion on that.

"I think when Crosby first came out, people wanted his jersey more," he said. "Now they have his jersey. And now Malkin is starting to become (a superstar) and he carried the team through the season."

There is another player's jersey that is selling well. Marian Hossa, acquired from Atlanta at the trade deadline, began to come on strong at the end of the series against the New York Rangers.

Fans have responded to that, even though the free agent may not be a Penguin next year, Brownlee said.

"He is starting to pick up, sales- wise. People are calling for his jersey, now that he has picked up (his scoring)."

It did not take the playoffs, however, for the Penguins to be one of the hotter NHL teams off the ice.

Twenty-six NHL teams increased online merchandise sales on Shop.NHL.com for December. The Penguins, winners of the AMP Energy NHL Winter Classic, led the pack with a sales increase of 164 percent, compared to sales in December 2006.

Also, the Penguins had five of the top selling items on Shop.NHL.com for the month of December. Crosby's jersey continued to lead all sales, while Malkin's rounded out the top 10.

Now that the playoffs are here, local retailers say sales are even hotter.

Dan DeNardo, manager of Reed Sports in Green Tree, said that the jerseys of Malkin and goalie Marc-Andre Fleury have picked up steam in sales.

And with the Penguin fever now hitting Pittsburgh, Reed Sports had a limited number of jerseys last week. Hanging on the walls were a couple of "Crosby," one "Ryan Whitney" and a few others.

"And we are out of Ryan Malone. He seems to be getting a little more popular," DeNardo said.

At Dunham's, about 30 to 40 Penguins' shirts are sold each day, Brownlee said. T-shirts range from $17 to $20, and the store is handing out coupons for Penguins' merchandise.

At Reed Sports, the store will customize jerseys for $169.99. An estimated three out of five people who walk through the door there buy some kind of Penguins merchandise, DeNardo said.

"It's that kind of year. It seems like everyone wants to cheer for them, and you can't do that without something to wear," Brownlee said.