First off, there’s no denying, Halak did the dirty work.
If the Flyers had Laviolette from the start of the season, they would’ve had more than 88 points. They came back with largely the same roster the next year, sans Gagne, and Pronger got hurt, but got much better goaltending and defensive depth and won the division, though they were leaking oil when they got to the playoffs in 2011.
They were good on paper because ultimately they did underachieve during the season. They lose Emery to the hip injury right at the Olympics. Leighton, which nobody will ever understand how that happened, got hurt in March. Brian Boucher just barely held it together, literally with how the regular season ended.
Then they got to take a breath once the playoffs began, and seemed to revel in their battle scars, but it wasn’t like the injuries stopped. In Game 4 vs. Boston, they were running out AHL guys to kill penalties in overtime. Jeff Carter is hurt, Gagne came back from a broken foot. Flyers got a huge boost though because it allowed Ville Leino to emerge, and playing with Briere, might have been the biggest key on the Flyers roster.
Their greatest bit of fortune in their games was actually in Game 3 vs. Boston, when Richards hit Krejci which broke his wrist. Boston immediately scored and won the game, but that was a killer as it allowed the Flyers to get the advantage at center