At 26-23-6, the Panthers remain just three points out of a playoff spot.
"We've been playing really well lately," Barkov said. "We don't want to concentrate on this loss too much. Maybe pick the good things, move on and keep playing the way we've been playing."
Racing out to an early lead in enemy territory, the Avalanche broke the ice when Logan O'Connor scored from the doorstep on a shorthanded 2-on-1 rush to make it 1-0 at 3:35 of the first period.
Doubling the lead for Colorado, J.T. Compher sent a pass from behind the net into the slot and onto the stick of Matt Nieto, who then fired a shot past Sergei Bobrovsky to make it 2-0 at 8:04.
Gaining some energy after Ryan Lomberg dropped the gloves Andreas Englund, the Panthers got on the board in the second period when Aaron Ekblad took a pass from Anton Lundell and beat Alexander Georgiev with a deceptive shot from below the blue line to make it 2-1 at 7:03.
Just over a minute later, Sam Bennett flew down the right side of the ice and roofed a shot over Georgiev's glove to pull the Panthers even and make it 2-2 at 8:08. But that tie lasted just 25 seconds as Devon Toews then potted a rebound to put the Avalanche back on top 3-2 at 8:33.
"I feel pretty good," said Bennett, who has goals in three of his last four games. "Playing with some confidence right now. Having fun playing with my linemates, building some chemistry."
At 14:01, Nathan MacKinnon scored on the power play to increase Colorado's lead to 4-2.
Cutting into the deficit for the Panthers in the third period, Barkov, who returned to the lineup after sitting out the last game with an injury, skated down the slot and directed a slick centering feed from Sam Reinhart past Georgiev to make it 4-3 at 11:03.
"I thought he was really good," Panthers head coach Paul Maurice said of Barkov's return. "For his first game back, he had some legs. We kept him out of the center circle, but Reinhart filled in and did a marvelous job in the middle."
On a late power play, the Panthers nearly tied it when a shot from Brandon Montour clanged off the post and slid through the crease without crossing the line. Then with 58.5 seconds left on the clock in regulation, MacKinnon scored on an empty net to lock in the 5-3 for the Avalanche.
"We battled there in the third," Bennett said. "We made a good push. A couple really good chances. We fought right until the end. It's unfortunate that we couldn't get it."
