Brenden Morrow believes it's good to be punched in the face every once in a while.

It gets you mad, it gets you focused, it gets you into the game.

And while the Dallas Stars captain is battling sore ribs from cross checks, a sore hand from blocking a puck and a sore knee from a collision, he said the thing that might be most prevalent in his mind is the figurative fist to the nose he took in a 3-2 overtime loss in Game 5 against the San Jose Sharks Friday.

Morrow had two goals disallowed and absorbed at least one cross-check that went unpenalized. But the real indignity was having to listen to people criticize the Stars for allowing San Jose to crawl back into a series that Dallas once led 3-0.

So as the teams prepare to meet tonight at American Airlines Center at 8 p.m. for Game 6, Morrow said he is mad, focused and into the game.

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The Dallas Stars' Brenden Morrow (right) had two goals disallowed in Game 5 of the playoffs.

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"I enjoy it, to tell you the truth," Morrow said Saturday. "I enjoy listening to the media saying the pressure is all on us. I enjoy listening to [Sharks coach] Ron Wilson saying how excited he is about trying to make history. I enjoy hearing people say that we're ready to fold up.

"I enjoy it, because it makes it that much more enjoyable when we prove them all wrong."

Morrow is in playoff mode. He's not playing a role, he's not trying to motivate his teammates. He's been punched in the face.

And that changes everything.

"He's our captain, he's our leader, and nobody is ever going to question that," goalie Marty Turco said. "He doesn't tell us he is, he shows us he is."

Morrow did that again in Game 5. When he had one goal disallowed for a "distinct kicking motion," Morrow came back and scored another. He said he simply focused his frustration and found a way to channel it in a positive manner. But in saying that, even he acknowledged the progress it took to accomplish that task.

"Looking back at what I've done in my career, I think things are a little different," he said. "In the past, I probably would have been guilty of taking a bad penalty or making a bad decision. I probably would have overreacted."

Now, he doesn't. A month shy of his 29th birthday, Morrow doesn't have to think – he has better instincts.

"I think it's maturing," Stars coach Dave Tippett said. "He's been through this before, he's learned from it. He's gotten better. That's what the good ones do."

And Morrow is a good one. He is leading the Stars in the playoffs not only with his ability to combine on a top scoring line with Mike Ribeiro and Jere Lehtinen (he ranks fifth in playoff goal-scoring with six), but also in his ability to drag the rest of his team into battle (he ranks third in hits at 47).

That battle will probably reach a new intensity tonight. If the Stars win, they move on to the Western Conference finals and a showdown with the vaunted Detroit Red Wings. If they lose, they must travel back to San Jose and face the possibility that they could become only the third team in NHL history to blow a 3-0 lead – and that Wilson would have the opportunity to gloat about his comeback Sharks.

Morrow said he can definitely make a comparison between the body aches and the mental challenges he has experienced in the playoffs.

"They both keep you up at night," he said with a laugh.

But while the adrenaline allows him to turn off the physical pain once a game begins, he said he carries with him a little bit of ego pain each night.

"I'm still ticked off, but I'll get past that," he said Saturday.

Once he proves everyone wrong, that is.